Tournament Stories
by Titanium Chain
Summary: I participate in a duel tournament and encounter some tough and annoying times because of one card...
1. Tournament Stories part 1

Chapter 1

"WHAT?!?? Is that card for real?" my opponent said with shock as I slid my Black Skull Dragon into attack mode. (3200/2500) "I've never seen one of those in my life! Where'd you get it?" he demanded, not daring to steal it.

"I got it in a booster pack. The metal raiders kind," I replied as I took out his face down defense monster. "Hah! Labyrinth Wall? I've got one of them too. Anyway, it looks as if you've lost your last reliable defense. I bet you're mad that you agreed to play by the Duelist Kingdom rules, only with 8000 life points." (By Duelist Kingdom rules, you can summon any level monster without tribute. You can even summon a fusion monster without having any of the cards needed to acquire it.)

"The score is 5600- me to 3800- you. My Black Skull Dragon appears to have taken over the field. It's your turn," I said with an uneasy smile. I hadn't dueled against this individual before. Who knows what cards he could have? I looked down at my 3 face down magic/ trap cards. I knew that one or two would come in handy if he played certain cards that would hinder me. But the third was just there. Anyway, he drew a card, smiled a sigh of relief and looked up at me.

"Here we go! First, I summon my Jirai Gumo into attack mode. (2200/100) Next, I flip over this trap card- the Dragon Capture Jar! You're Black Skull is in defense mode now," he said as I slapped his hand away from my card so I could switch it perpendicular to his Jirai Gumo. "Next, I equip my monster with Invigoration. His attack is increased by 400 points to 2600," he said as he slapped down the green card with a picture of the sun with plenty of brilliant colors emitting from it. "And now I attack!" he said smuggly as he lifted up his card and placed the edge of it under the corner of mine to flip it over, signifying an attack. But I interrupted him.

"HEY! Don't forget about Jirai Juno's effect. You have to flip a coin and call it. If you call it wrong, you lose half of your life points. 

"Fine…" he said as he let his card float to the ground as he stuffed his left hand in his pocket to search for a coin. "Okay, I found one. I think it will be heads!" he said as he flipped it. A soft ding sound could be heard and we both watched it plummet to the carpeted floor in my living room.

"HA! It's heads!" he said. "And NOW I attack!" But then I silently flipped over my Castle Wall card, and my dragon's defense rose by 500 points! So, his attack failed and he lost 400 life points because of the change of power.

"I KNEW you'd have something planned!" he said to me as he put his card back in its former position. So now it's 5600- you to 3400- me. And it's your turn. Have any way to win? This duel is still far from over. And Castle Walls's effect lasts for only the battle phase you use it in," he said to me as I picked up a card from my draw pile and examined my hand.

"Far from over, huh? Alright then, watch this," I said as I motioned to put down a few cards.

"I'm equipping my Black Skull Dragon with Sword of the Deep-Seated which increases its attack AND defense by 500 points! I place one more card face down, and this little thing in face down defense mode. And that'll be it for me!" I said with a smirk.

My opponent quickly drew a card and thought out his next move. He looked at me with a small degree of discomfort, then performed his next move," Fine, then… I'll play Cannon Soldier in attack mode and place this one card face down on the field. And I think I'll attack your defense monster, too."

"Knock yourself out! But don't forget to flip the coin!" I said with a smile. As he flipped the coin, he announced that he thinks it will be heads again. I couldn't believe it when he was correct AGAIN! But it didn't matter, when he flipped over my defense card with his Jirai Gumo, I could see his face turn pale.

"The Dragon Piper! NO! Another one of your comebacks!"

"That's right! Its effect destroys all Dragon Capture Jars and turns all face up dragon monsters into attack mode!" I said as I rotated my holographic, gold foil, 1st edition card into attack mode.

"My turn again!" I sang as I drew a card from the top of my deck, happy with the outcome.

"Now I'll play Tribute to the Doomed! It's one of the rarest magic cards in the whole game! I discard one monster card from my hand to the graveyard to destroy one monster one your side of the field!" So I tossed my La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp into the graveyard on top of the recently added Dragon Piper as I told him to put his Jirai Gumo his own graveyard.

"And now I attack!" I said as I flipped over his Cannon Soldier about 5 times with my Black Skull Dragon. "You lose 2300 life points," I said as he tapped away at the buttons of the calculator I lent him.

"Pretty good! Pretty good…" he said as he looked at the card he just drew. I could tell by the way he said, "Pretty good! Pretty good…" that it wasn't a very GOOD card. But whatever it was, I will never know because the next thing I knew, I saw my hand placed on top of my deck.

"What are you surrendering for? You're winning!" he yelled at me in shock.

"I don't know!" then all of a sudden, the Black Skull Dragon came to life and used its molten fireball assault on me.

…then I woke up.

"Crap! I was winning, too! Why do all my good dreams end in catastrophe?" I asked as I opened my nightstand, still seeing my deck there, my prized (but not my favorite) card ,the Black Skull Dragon, as the 13th card.

"The tournament begins today. I hope I studied their rules well enough," I mumbled to myself as I drifted off to sleep again. The last thing I remember seeing was the clock reading 1:34 am, in it's bright red LCD.


	2. Tournament Stories part 2

Chapter 2

"Swordstalker! GO! Vengeance strike!" the boy yelled to the huge, holographic monster in front of him. He didn't look more than 14 years old. I was witnessing a practice duel. But I couldn't believe it! Perfectly designed holograms that look almost exactly like the cards themselves! I gaped in amazement at the silky smooth frame rate when that kid's Swordstalker ran up and took a jumping slash at some other girl's defense monster. It looked like the Armored Lizard to me, but I couldn't be sure from such a distance.

Anyway, I continued walking down the crowded streets looking around at some of the others who looked surprised to be here. I actually was shocked myself, but I wasn't one to start rubbing my eyes in disbelief or jump up and down like I witnessed others doing. I just kept following the crowd of people that seemed to be headed toward some small building with the sign above it marked "Registration."

"NEXT!" some woman yelled from behind a counter that she could barely see over.

"Yes, hi. I'm registering for this tournament," I said politely.

"Duh! EVERYONE on this island is! Unless you were a stowaway on the boat, in which case you should turn back now," she glared up at me through her incredibly thin glasses and long, dirty, blonde hair as she replied to me rudely all while typing on the keyboard in front of her. I watched her fingers type my name. "Okay, kid. Here's how this tournament is gonna work. It's nothing like Duelist Kingdom or Battle City, or any tournament you've been to before. First, you must win two preliminary rounds to be entered into the tournament itself. At that point, you will be among the 256 seeking to be the "Best at His/Her Game." After the original 256, will be only 128 left. After that, 64 more will be eliminated, then there will be 32, then 16, then 8 in the semi-finals, 4 in the finals, and then just 2 in the "last duel."

"Uh… that's a heck of a lot like the tournaments my school holds," I said with a laugh.

"HEY! I'm just reading what's on the paper given to me! Cut me some slack, got it, kid?" she screamed as she reached over the counter to shove me aside. "NEXT!" she yelled while she motioned for me to go away.

"No Duel Disk system or anything?" I asked kind of aloud to see if any would hear me.

"I was wondering that same thing. But after walking around the whole island and not seeing a single system, it's safe to say that we will be using normal arenas," some boy behind me said. I turned around to see who it was. "Hi, my name's Jack." He said as he motioned to shake my hand. Then I told him my name. And shook his hand. Then we continued walking around. After all, 10am was two hours away.

"So how good of a duelist are you? Do you have any rare cards? What's your favorite card?" Jack said, starting up a conversation

"Uh… I'm pretty good. I have a few rare cards, and I'll just give you a hint of my favorite card…" I replied to all three questions at once.

"Okay… go," he said, looking back at me.

"My favorite card has attack points of 1700," I said with a choked laugh.

"Heh… BIG help!" Jack said sarcastically.

"Ha ha ha! Well you're just going to have to figure it out! There aren't THAT many with attack points of 1700!" I replied as we continued walking around, getting a feel for the massive island.

Sooner than later, it seemed, 10am came and everyone on the island, unless they were stowaways, was in front of some huge field "awaiting a special appearance" I heard someone say. Everyone looked in unison to the right when we heard a jet approaching at an incredibly fast speed. "I bet you that's him!" I said with sarcastic excitement. Jack just laughed. To everyone's surprise, the jet stopped and hovered in midair. A digital screen buzzed on to a picture of a man sitting in a chair hidden behind shadows and darkness. "Maybe he's worried about people thinking he's ugly," Jack whispered to me. I suppressed a laugh as the man began to talk, "Young duelists! I welcome each and every one of you! All of you have been invited to this tournament because your dueling skills have been monitored. Be it by your older brother working for my company… Jack let out a little cough, as did a few others …your school principal who reported to me your excellent performance at a school tournament… "Uh oh… I came in second at our school tournament. Does that mean that Jonathan is here somewhere?" I thought to myself… or if your parents called me personally and told me your desire to be in a tournament, you have all been accepted here. Some of you know what's coming. For others, this is your first tournament ever. But I just want you all to have fun and duel your very best. Oh yes- the prizes. The 32 that make it that far will be awarded $250, each! Then, the 16 that survive that round will each earn another $250! The final 8 will each receive one ultra rare card. Then, the last 4 will be awarded another card with attack points guaranteed to be over 3000. And finally, the one who comes in second place will be awarded an additional $1500 and another rare card. BUT! The duelist who manages to overcome all challenges set in front of him or her and crushes the other 255 duelists will not only be crowned "Best at His or Her Game," and will not only get to keep the other prizes they have already won, but will also get to ask for whatever cards, prizes, or cash he or she desires! Then, to test the true limits of this duelist's capabilities, they will also get to challenge ME! I doubt ANY of you even remotely recognize my voice, so you cannot possibly guess at who I am. So, in defeated all the others, you will be the only who gets to meet me in person. Good luck, all of you! And to the 224 who do not win anything, I wish better luck ahead of time." Many angry groans were heard over the sounds of the jet zooming out of sight. I even think I heard someone say that $250 wasn't a good enough prize to be dueling for. But I'm just glad to BE here! Anyway, everyone walked back the main gate and preliminary match-ups were announced. They had at least 150 dueling arenas, some with stadium seating. I assumed those were for the big battles. Anyway, my name and Jack's name were called. We each went our separate ways and agreed to meet back by the main gate after our duels. I was psyched! I was actually going to play in my first duel in an international tournament! I slowly approached the arena marked 134-C and waited for my opponent.

"Who the heck is my opponent, again?" I said to myself, as I watched hundreds of people walk by me, searching for their arenas. I wondered if he or she would actually show up…


	3. Tournament Stories part 3

"Hey! Are you my opponent?" some girl walked up to me from the river of people flowing by. Then she asked who I was and I said my name. "Okay, you ARE my first opponent! Good to meet ya! My name is Jenny!" she gleefully said as she laid down her pack.

"Well, let's duel! You ready?" I said about as happily as she was.

"Yup!" she said as she hoisted up her pack again.

We shook hands and proceeded towards different sides of the dueling arena. Jenny was fumbling around in her pack for something. I'm not sure what it was from the other side of the arena, but it looked like she took out this tournament's rulebook. I decided to think nothing of it and placed my deck on the special platform that transferred my deck to her for shuffling. She did the same.

"Remember all the rules?" I said aloud, still curious as to what that thing was that fell out of her bag.

"Of course, silly!" she responded a bit nervously as she placed my deck back on the platform. I did the same. In seconds, I had my deck back. And I drew 5 cards. So did she. Our life points were set to 8000, and we began.

The nice guy I am, I said, "How about you go first?" But she declined for some reason and insisted that I go first. I didn't mind. But if I were offered to go first, I'd take it up in a second.

"Okay," I thought to myself, "the rules say that tributes ARE required, there's no Main Phase 2, and two magic/ trap cards of the same name can't be on your side of the field at the same time, or you pay 550 life points. Then one of them is sent to the graveyard. Sounds easy enough." I knew there were more rules in that book that I STILL thought I saw her flip through, but they weren't important right now.

"I'LL PLAY THIS FACE DOWN AND SUMMON CANNON SOLDIER (1400/1300) IN ATTACK MODE!" I shouted to her. Though I still thought she could barely hear me.

Watching the spot that corresponds to the place where I put my Cannon Soldier, I watched in awe as a holographic replica of my monster was put onto the massive field. I thought it was cool that I could see right through it, yet it still sounded like a machine.

"Uh-oh," she thought. "A Cannon Soldier! That's how Jeffery won our last duel back home. I don't want to lose this one too! And by the same card!" So she glanced at her hand and instantly placed down "Brain Control! I get to control one of your monsters for one turn! Obviously, I pick your Cannon Soldier. Also, I place this monster in defense mode." I watched the field as my Cannon Soldier seemed to… dissolve… for a lack of a better word, from my side to her side, and watched a square next to it turn yellow and blink. "I guess that's how face down defensive cards are displayed," I thought.

"And now I attack! Cannon Soldier, attack his life points directly!" she yelled.

A ball of intense light gathered around my Cannon Soldier's cannon. I watched in amazement and horror. Amazement because these graphics were intensely awesome. Horror because I wondered if this would hurt, like I've heard direct attacks in Battle City did… But luckily I flipped over my trap card Waboku and the damage that would have brought my life points down to 6600 was negated.

"Good move!" she said in her usual happy voice. "Though I DO have another card on the field… However, I choose not to attack with it. Although the rules say that each monster can each attack once." (Unless otherwise stated on the card.)

"So it's your turn!" and with that, my Cannon Soldier… dissolved… again back onto my side of the field.

"Close call!" I thought to myself, "I didn't expect such a powerful card to be played so early in the game. Luckily, I did have that Waboku out, but I've only got one in my whole deck. It looks as if I'm going to have to play a bit smarter than usual." I thought as I drew my next card. "She has one face down monster on the field in defense mode. Since no tributes were made, its defense can't be very high. The most defense points in a low level monster I can think of is the Mystical Elf (800/2000), the Prevent Rat (500/2000), the Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000), or the Island Turtle (1100/2000). Are there others? Well, time to take my first big risk of this tournament…" I thought as I grabbed my wits, as well as another card and executed my next move.

"I, too will play one card face down in defense mode, and set TWO magic/ trap cards on the field. I'm keeping my Cannon Soldier in attack mode, but not attacking. Your turn, Jenny!" I said in a kind voice. She smiled as she looked at her next card.

"Are you ready? Cuz here comes my next splendid move!" she said with a commanding voice. "I use my face down card Petit Moth (300/200) to summon Illusionist Faceless Mage (1200/2200) in face-up defense mode!" she said with glee as she removed another card from her hand. "Why would she let me know what it is?" I asked myself. "And now I play this field card Chorus of Sanctuary. It raises the defense of ALL defense position monsters by 500 points! So now my mage's defense is 2700! Beat that!" she yelled with fire in her eyes.

"Good playing," I congratulated her. "But now it will be harder to get to her life points by attacking. But there ARE monsters and magic cards for an occasion such as this," I thought as I looked at my Cannon Soldier and drew my next card. "Hmm… the Labyrinth Wall. (0/3000) If I put it down, its defense will increase by 500 more to 3500. That's good for defense, but if we spend the whole day defending, the duel will go on forever! So maybe I'll save this card for when I need it," I said to myself as I glanced up at the sun, halfway covered by clouds.

"Okay! Bear with me because this may get confusing. First, I'm putting this card in defense mode. Next I sacrifice the defense card I played last turn to activate my Cannon Soldier's effect. But since this offered card has a flip effect, I must do that first," I said as she looked up from something she was reading, almost as if she was doing two things at once.

"It's Big Eye! (1200/1000)" She said, putting the book down on the dueling stand."

"His effect lets me see the top 5 cards in my deck and arrange them in any order I want," I said as I removed the top 5 cards from my deck and fanned them out. "Wow. Island Turtle (1100/2000), Dark Zebra (1800/400), Mask of Darkness (900/400), Hayabusa Knight (1000/700), and Fissure! They're all pretty good, but how do I arrange them?" I thought as Jenny examined the field. "I know! I'll put Fissure first, then Island Turtle, then Hayabusa Knight, followed by Dark Zebra, and Mask of Darkness." I finished my thoughts and assortment of the cards then went on to say. "Now I use my sacrifice to damage your life points by 500 points!" And after all that, the score became 8000 to 7500. And then it was Jenny's turn again. 

"He'll probably use that Cannon soldier a lot to damage my life points as much as he can without actually attacking. I've got to prevent him from using that effect any more! So I guess I should attack his defense card. But my Chorus of Sanctuary is out! What if I LOSE life points because of this? And what if those cards are traps? I'd be springing them out of intimidation. I should just ride this out. Maybe things will go my way," she thought as she looked, disappointed, at the card she just drew, or at least that's how I was supposed to think she felt until she played it, "HA! I summon Battle Ox (1700/1000) in attack mode! DESTROY HIS CANNON SOLDIER!" The disgustingly smelly ox charged faster and faster, raising his axe high over his right shoulder. Luckily, I had a trap card set for such an occasion. "I activate trap hole!" I yelled as I swiftly flipped over my hidden card. Suddenly, the holographic "ground" below her ox spread open into a gaping chasm in which it plummeted to its death. "Hey! No fair!" she said in disbelief as she witnessed the massive hole shrink and disappear as if nothing had ever happened.

"My turn again," I said as I drew Fissure, like I knew I would. I seemed to notice, by this point, quite a crowd was gathering around our arena. Maybe it was the duel or just the intensity and excitement of it all. But something was drawing all these people to our duel like flies to rotten mayonnaise. In particular, I noticed two females dressed in black in the distance who seemed to be pointing and making directional gestures at me. They stuck out of the crowd like a sore thumb in their dark ensembles along with their deep dark shades and obvious low profile because of their avoidance of other duelists. But that's another thing. In the way they seemed to be looking at people and following them around with their faces, I knew that they were good duelists…maybe too good. I thought to myself, "There's quite a crowd gathering around here. It's making my paranoia worse. Do I have something on the back of my shirt or something?" But I quickly remembered that I was in a duel and looked back at my Fissure card.

It all seemed too easy. Though I wasn't thinking about that at the time. All I could think of was my next move. "I play the magic card Fissure! It destroys the face up monster on your side of the field with the lowest attack power. So, it's farewell to your Faceless Mage." I said as she removed her expired card from the playing field and into the graveyard with a frown. "And now I attack with both of my monsters!" I yelled as I flipped my other card into offense mode, "Cannon Soldier! Tongyo! (1350/800) Attack her life points!" My question of "does direct damage hurt?" was answered just then when Jenny braced herself against her platform for some kind of physical damage. In disbelief of what was about to happen she let out a cry, closed her eyes, and tilted her head down. The brilliant blast of the Cannon Soldier's cannon came into full contact with her dueling stand and resulted in a blinding display of light. And Tongyo whipped its tongue back and forth over the stand with immense force. I then became worried. "What did I just do? I don't even know this sweet girl!" I said to myself, eyes wide in fear for her safety. Numerous gasps and cries were heard from the crowd surrounding us. But that only added to the stress.

To my relief, hers, and the crowd's as well, the two attacks didn't hurt one bit. In fact, she even told me this by saying, "That was cool! It kinda tickled, I think!" she exclaimed in exuberance. I don't even think she cared for the rapid beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep… BEEP sound that we duelists are all too familiar with.

"I'm glad you're okay. Are you sure you aren't hurt?" I asked with major concern.

"Oh! I'm fine! Of course, I'm losing by a heck of a lot more, now, though," she said with a kind giggle.

It was true, though. The score was now 8000-me to 4750-Jenny. And it was Jenny's turn.

"It's time to begin my comeback!" she said as she put one card in face down defense mode and set one magic/ trap card on the field. "It's your turn," and she said my name.

"I don't know whether to attack or not! She seemed pretty confident in putting those two cards down," I thought as I drew my Island Turtle. Looking at it and then at her I said, "I'll put this monster card in defense mode and end my turn."

I anxiously watched her draw another card as I wondered what that hidden card was.

"And now! I flip over… 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom! (800/1200**+500**) Its effect lets me destroy all face up monsters on your side of the field with a level of 4 stars!" she glared at me with that same smile. I was laughing internally as I put Tongyo and Cannon Soldier in my graveyard, leaving but my Island Turtle alone on the field. "And I can still summon a monster, too! So I call forth Armored Zombie (1500/0) in attack mode! And now I attack your defense card," she said as the zombie lurched forward and scratched at my card with its bony claws and nails.

"Bad move…" I replied. As the turtle came into view on the field, Jenny gasped in shock. "Since Chorus of Sanctuary is still around, my Island Turtle gets a defense boost! And since that monster's attack points is 1500, you lose 1000 life points!" I said as the zombie staggered back, somehow knowing its own attack failed, "My turn now," I said as I drew my Hayabusa Knight. "I got this card two weeks ago from a booster pack. It was Pharaoh's Servant, I think. And its effect lets me attack with him twice in the same battle phase. I guess that explains the 1000 attack points. Maybe I can use him later for direct damage or something," I thought as I looked back at my hand, reexamining each card. "Only two cards in my hand- Hayabusa Knight and Malevolent Nuzzler. Wait! I can use these two in a combo. And since my knight can attack twice, he can eliminate both cards!" I thought to myself, wearing a smile. "Okay, Jenny. Here we go. I'm summoning Hayabusa Knight in attack mode. Next, I equip him with Malevolent Nuzzler which boosts his attack by 700 points! But though his effect enables him to attack twice in the same battle phase, your ladybug's defense is equal to my knight's attack. So! HAYABUSA KNIGHT! Attack the Armored Zombie!" I commanded.

My knight drifted across the holographic landscape as he slashed at the zombie with his elegantly made sword. The zombie fell and Jenny lost 200 life points.

"That's okay," she replied said as she drew a card. I had none in my hand. Though I knew that my next card would be Dark Zebra.

"Okay. I equip my 4-Starred Ladybug with Horn of Light. It powers up any monster's defense by 800 points! So now my ladybug's defense is 2500 points strong! Pretty good, huh?" she said as she fanned herself with her only card in her hand, choosing not to play it. "Yeah. That IS pretty good!" I replied in amazement. I even heard echoing sounds of surprise coming from the crowd surrounding us.

"So what do I do now? This time, I have no tricks up my sleeve for this situation. My face down card will help out, but only for a little bit. I don't know what to do right now. Maybe I should wait until I finish drawing the cards I know I'd draw," I thought as I stared at my Dark Zerbra. "I am doing absolutely nothing this turn, Jenny," I said.

"Okay. I'll draw, place this magic/ trap card down and end my turn, too," she replied.

I drew my Mask of Darkness and set it in face down defense mode, just in case. Then it was Jenny's turn once more. She put a monster in defense mode and ended her turn as well. And that's as boring as it got.

"My turn, once more," I said as I drew a card from my deck, hoping it would be good. "Hey! It's the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon! (2200/1700) With my face down card, I can get rid of her ladybug!" I thought.

"I sacrifice my Mask of Darkness and use its flip effect to bring back a trap card from my graveyard!" I announced as I silently brought back Trap Hole. "Next, because I sacrificed my mask, I bring forth the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon! And NOW! I flip over this trap card, Snake Fang, it decreases one selected monster's defense by 500 points, leaving your ladybug at 2000 defense. I attack your 4-Starred Ladybug with my dragon!" I called out to it. And obediently, it launched a massive fire assault onto the ladybug, frying it. "Next, I attack your defense monster with my Hayabusa Knight!" I said. I watched in anticipation as the knight approached the hidden card and attacked it. And in doing so, activated its effect. You've flipped my Man-Eater Bug! (450/600) And its effect lets me destroy one monster on your side of the field. So goodbye, Hayabusa Knight!" she said in happiness as she dropped her Man-Eater Bug in her own graveyard as well. I was actually shocked that I'd play so foolishly. But to be honest, I had it coming. I just laughed as I switched my Island Turtle to attack mode and further damaged her life points to 2450. Well, that was until she activated the trap card, "Numinous Healer! It increases my life points by 1000 after I take damage, either directly or by the destruction of a monster. HA HA! So now I have 3450, only 100 fewer than what I previously had!" she glared at me again as if to say, "This isn't over, and I'm not giving up without a fight!"

"Good playing, Jenny!" I replied. And now it was Jenny's turn. She had no monsters on the field. I don't know how she'd pull anything off. But I guess I thought too soon when, "I play Change of Heart! I get to control one of your monsters for one turn! So I gain control of your Island Turtle. I choose to sacrifice it to set THIS monster in defense mode onto the field," she said, as I witnessed her slap a monster into the center slot. "And don't forget about the Chorus of Sactuary! Hee hee!" she let out a giggle as my turn came about.

I drew a card and thought to myself, "I've got Trap Hole, Dark Zebra, and Shadow of Eyes, which I just drew. I wish I had this card face down already, so I can switch that hidden monster into attack mode so I can destroy it. So maybe I'll play it anyway…" "Jenny! I summon dark Zebra into attack mode and set two magic/ trap cards on the field and end my turn!"

Jenny looked at my zebra card a bit wide-eyed, but then shook her head as if to tell herself "no" and drew a card as the thought occurred to me that this duel was beginning to take too long. Some of the crowd actually began to leave, seeing no point in witnessing more boring plays. I felt stupid, and wished she would hurry up, not be mean or anything…

"I can't do anything. It's your turn," she said with a bit of sadness.

"Okay…" I replied as I drew my Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000). I felt kind of sorry for her for playing my Shadow of Eyes, but its all to win. "Jenny, I activate Shadow of Eyes which switches that card to attack mode," and I heard her let out a little gasp as she switched her Steel Ogre Grotto #2 (1900/2200) into attack mode. "I summon Giant Soldier of Stone into attack mode, and attack your steel ogre with my dragon!" I said as her life points decreased by 300 to 3150. Then I attacked with my soldier of stone and zebra to further damage her life points all the way to a measly 50. I saw a small tear in her left eye. I tried not to lose it, but this girl couldn't be more than 13 years old. And this is most probably her first ever tournament. She is really good for a duelist of her age group and experience, but it must be a real shock to be eliminated from your first ever tournament in the preliminaries.

Next thing I knew, I was standing next to her outside of the arena, shaking hands with her and telling her not to feel bad about the outcome of this duel. She somewhat took comfort in what I said and offered me a card of hers. (The rule book says that the loser must offer the winner a card with 2000 attack points or more, or a magic/ trap card with silver foil, not necessarily a rare card. Though the final 64 will have to offer rare cards all the time…) So, she said, "Here," and she said my name, "I'm giving you my Empress Judge (2100/1700). I never really used it, so it's practically new. Take good care of it, and make sure you remember who you got it from!" she said with a wink.

"Of course! And thank you so much. You put up a great fight. I hope we duel again!" I said as accepted the card.

"Oh yeah… one last thing," she said. "Just outta curiosity, what's your STRONGEST card?" she blinked at me with her innocent eyes.

A bit startled by the question of such information, I reluctantly said, "Uhh… that would be my Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500)," and I showed her the card, kind of protecting it by cupping my hands around it.

"WOW! That's amazing! And lookit! It's first edition too! That must be the rarest card on this whole penninsula!" she said, kind of allowed.

A bit nervous, I replied, "Heh. I dunno about that!" and I smiled.

As the conversation ended, she waved goodbye and I headed towards the main gate where Jack would be waiting, I hope. But, unbeknownst to me, Jenny was standing behind the arena, away from all the other people and speaking into a small microphone, "It IS him! The kid with the Black Skull Dragon! Take him out in the later rounds! …but as for me… I'm taking the next cruise outta here…"

I didn't know it then, but that one card would cause so much annoyance to me…


	4. Tournament Stories part 4

I walked back to where Jack said he'd be waiting for me. To my surprise, I was actually there for about fifteen minutes before he showed up with a smile on his face. I'm glad he made it past the first preliminaries.

"I'm guessing it went pretty well?" I asked.

"It sure did. And I got this kick-butt card from that guy I dueled, too! Though I must say, it wasn't too easy," Jack said to me as he shuffled around in his deck in search of his newly acquired card. "Here it is," he said as he whipped out a card and showed it to me. I tried not to laugh, "Ryu-Ran (2200/2600)?" I asked with a held back giggle.

"Yeah! Isn't it so- hey! What are you trying not to laugh at?" he asked me as his smile turned into a disappointed frown.

"I dunno, it's just funny, that's all. It's such a high level monster for its attack points. You'll need to sacrifice TWO monsters to get that thing on the field," I said. "So?" he replied in detest. "It's that I WON it," and he said my name, "What card did YOU get?" he demanded. I showed him the Empress Judge (2100/1700) I got. "That's pretty good. Only you'll have to sacrifice two monsters to summon her also," he said with a smirk. "What? WHY? It's only got six stars!" I replied confused as to why he'd say that.

"It's in this tournament's rule book. A fusion monster CAN be summoned to the field even without the necessary parts. But if you choose to normal summon it, you have to offer one more monster than you usually would according to its stars," he said to me as he put his card back in a random spot in his deck. "CRAP! That means I'll have to sacrifice THREE monsters to summon my Black Skull Dragon!" I thought to myself, "I guess I didn't study the rule book well enough," I said as I had a flashback of the night before when I awoke from that weird duel. "Anyway, sorry I sounded kinda mad," he finished as he looked at me apologetically.

"That's alright. You were probably psyched from winning your first duel!" I said.

"Sure am! …so now. How about another clue as to your favorite card?" he asked, completely changing the subject.

"Okay… you want another clue! Its name has the letter o in it," I said with a smirk.

"Do you realize exactly how little that narrows things down? I can already think of TWO monsters with 1700 attack points with an o in their name! You sure do know how to give hard clues…" he said as the loudspeakers towering over the arenas buzzed on with some static, "Attention! Will all remaining duelists please report to the front desk for determining your next opponents!" some lady's voice boomed. Off the bat, I recognized it as that short lady from the registration desk. And slowly, we all made our way over there.

As we got there, half of us were handed a card with a number on it and then lined up parallel to the front desk. And the other half of us were taken to the front desk to draw a card. Luckily, Jack and I were ones drawing cards. So we couldn't possibly go against one another according to what she said, "When someone up here," and she pointed to the line at the desk, "draws the card with the number that corresponds to the card you were given, that determines who will play each other next. Get ready for the last round of the preliminaries!" she yelled in sarcastic enthusiasm.

So the lines got ever smaller as people drew cards and sought numbers. Soon, it was Jack's turn to draw. He slowly approached the deck and randomly chose one out of the deck. The short lady glanced up at the number he drew and yelled, "NUMBER 67! THIS IS YOUR NEXT OPPONENT!" A disappointed groan could be heard in the line of number holders from some kid with an uneasy look on his face. He had to be, at most, 14. "Here I am," he said a bit dejectedly. Jack approached the boy and friendly asked him which arena he wanted to duel at. The boy said something that sounded like "eighty four" I think. But then I couldn't hear anything more.

"NEXT!" the lady yelled. Her voice minutely cracked at the end, which I found amusing, as I plainly drew the top card off of the deck. This time using a megaphone, the woman said, "Number 2! Meet your next opponent!" she said as the megaphone squeaked, hurting many of the younger duelists' ears. I watched a boy who had to be at least my age and height step forth and greet me with an eager smile. We walked away from the crowd in search of an open dueling arena. 

His dark black hair, blue eyes, and intimidating height made him look like a tough duelist, alone. But putting aside all extraneous details, the boy who introduced himself as Craig asked with a smirk "How about the loser gives the winner their favorite card, to make this final preliminary EXTRA special!??"

"Are you serious? You DO know that one's favorite card is more than a card with attack and defense points. It's a special beacon of who you compare yourself to be or, in my case, would like to be," I said as I tried to imagine my deck without my favorite card in it. I shuddered to the mere thought of it. But then he responded, "Ha ha! No way, dude. I was kidding! I couldn't ever possibly part with my Mr. Volcano (2100/1300)."

I let out a sigh of relief and commented, "Heh, yeah. I couldn't imagine my deck without my," and then I said my favorite card's name. "So should the loser just offer one card with attack of 2000 or more, like the preliminary rules say?" I asked as I began considering what card I could give him…

"Works for me. Hey, there's a free arena. Let's duel there," he said as he pointed to an arena far off the path to the right of us. So we ran to the arena before anybody else could have laid claim to it. Then we stepped onto the platforms that lifted each of us up, high above the ground. We shuffled each other's deck and had them back in seconds. I, to this day, still wonder how those things work without losing a single card!

"All set? How about you go first?" Craig said to me. I noticed that he was speaking regularly, since there was no foot traffic or anything nearby to disrupt our dialogue.

"Sure! Here I go!" I said as I drew another card, adding it to my five. (In my duel against Jen, you could only start with five and not draw another new card on your first turn…)

"Great first hand! La Jinn, Remove Trap, Crab Turtle, Solomon's Lawbook, Dark Zebra, and Sonic Bird!" I thought to myself.

"I put these two cards face down and summon Sonic Bird (1400/1000) in attack mode!" I said. "And the Sonic Bird has a special effect when I summon it to the field in a face up position. It lets me take one ritual magic card from my deck and add it to my hand! Then I get to shuffle my deck!" So I gleefully took Turtle Oath out of my deck and slipped it into my hand. Then I cut my cards once or twice, reshuffled the deck and slapped my deck back on its spot. "There, all done. Your turn!" I told him as my Sonic Bird filled the arena with cries of readiness to fight.

Of his six cards, he set one of them down and set one in defense mode and silently signaled it to be my turn.

I drew a De-Spell and played "Turtle Oath! It lets me summon the ritual monster Crab Turtle by sacrificing as many monsters it takes to total eight level stars from my hand OR the field! So I sacrifice Sonic Bird from the field, and Dark Zebra from my hand, totaling 8 level stars, to bring forth Crab Turtle (2550/2500)!" I announced as the giant aquatic monster rose from the arena, towering over both of us and letting out a mighty yell of triumph. "And since that was a special summon, I get to normal summon another monster to the field as well. So here comes La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (1800/1000)!" I said as my team of monsters glared down at Craig who was taken by surprise by the sudden onslaught of powerful monsters, "NOW! La Jinn! Attack his defending card!" I ordered as he gathered a ball of energy in his palm and released it in a powerful blast. It sped toward the yellow, blinking light representing the defense card. It struck the space with intense force, but the card remained. It was the Mystical Elf (800/2000)! "Crap. Now I lose 200 life points for that brilliant maneuver," I said as my face turned sarcastically happy, "Okay. Crab Turtle! Attack the Mystical Elf!" I commanded. The massive turtle lunged forward and used its huge scissor-like hand to dice the holographic image of the elf. After that whole thing, Craig was winning 8000 to 7800.

"Pretty good," he said with a little laugh as he drew a card from his deck, making his total 5. "But now it's my turn!" he said as he smiled at the card he drew. "I summon The Bistro Butcher (1800/1000) in attack mode!" he said as he slapped his card into attack mode on his side of the field. A weird purple faced thing wearing red clothing and having a hook for a hand rose from a glowing spot on his side of the field. But I wondered why he summoned THAT card, "You realize that The Bistro Butcher's effect lets ME draw 2 cards every time he inflicts damage to my life points, right?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah. But lemme finish my move, first, huh?" he looked up at me, a bit annoyed. "Along with my Bistro Butcher, I play the field card Mystic Plasma Zone. Any dark monster on the field gets an attack power boost of 500 points. It also lowers their defense by 400. And now I reveal my face down card. I equip my butcher with the Sword of Dark Destruction! It increases his attack by 400 points and lowers his defense by 200 more points! So now my Bistro Butcher has 2700 attack and defense power of 400. Bistro Butcher! Annihilate his Crab Turtle!"

"Damn it!" I instinctively yelled in reply. I watched in amazement as the seemingly slow butcher jumped considerably high and used his recently equipped sword to slice at my powerful Crab Turtle, eliminating it from the field, and me losing 150 life points. Now the score was 8000 to 7650- still a far way from over.

"I guess I'll draw those two cards now, and one more because it's my turn," I said as I analyzed possibilities to perform with the De-Spell and the newly added Sword of Dark Destruction (how ironic), Hane-Hane (450/500), and Deepsea Shark (1900/1600). I glanced up at Craig's hand of 3 cards. What other surprises are lurking in his hand? Not that I'm worried, though. I'm only losing by 350 life points…

Looking at my La Jinn (1800b+500/b/1000b-400/b), I glanced at the two magic cards in my hand again. Then I got a great idea.

"First, I'm putting this card in face-down defense mode," I said as I silently placed my Hane-Hane in defense position. "Next I equip my genie with Sword of Dark Destruction too, further increasing his attack power to match your Bistro Butcher's 2700! But now I play De-Spell!" I said as I slammed my magic card onto the field, to the right of my sword. "I choose to eliminate YOUR Sword of Dark Destruction, reducing your card's attack power back to 2300!" I said as Craig watched in amazement. "And now I attack!" I ordered my genie as he let another energy ball fly and collide with Craig's Bistro Butcher with immense force. His monster was destroyed, and Craig lost 400 life points, bringing his total down to 7600.

"I wish these tournaments started us off with 4000 life points instead of 8000. This is going to take long, don't you agree?" Craig said as he drew his next card. "Yeah. But at least we don't take long making our moves, right?" I replied as I watched his hand grow to 4 cards.

"Okay," and he said my name with respect, "My next move is this. I place two of my four cards face down on the field, and put Girochin Kuwagata (1700/1000) in attack mode! And now I command him to attack your defense card!" he said as the attack revealed, "My Hane-Hane's special effect let's me return one monster card on the field to it's owner's hand, after its been flipped. So, I return your card to your hand, Craig," I announced as I dropped off my Hane-Hane in my graveyard.

"Ugh… Okay," Craig said with a look of distress on his face as he returned his card to his hand.

I drew my next card, Trap Master (500/1100) and set him on the field, thinking I'd need him later. Craig looked at the yellow blinking spot on my side of the field with anger figuring it's a card set to his disadvantage. But I just continued my turn and ordered La Jinn to attack his life points directly. A brilliant sphere of electrifying energy zapped his entire side of the dueling arena. Thankfully, we both knew that direct attacks didn't hurt. So he acted all dramatic while laughing by sounding like he was being electrocuted. He was a good sport about it all. I don't think either one of us even clearly heard the rapid beep beep beep beep sound bringing his life points down to 4900. But he just HAD to activate, "Attack and Receive! When I take damage to my life points, either directly or by monster destruction, YOU lose 700 life points!" he shouted as some of that beep beep beeping brought my life points down to 6950.

"Not a bad move, there, Craig!" I complimented him as he mumbled something incoherent with a smile. I could have sworn it sounded like "I'm doomed…" but I will never know.

"Anyway, it's my turn now," Craig responded as he swiftly swiped the top card off of his deck. "Yes! I was waiting for this card!" he said as he glared at my La Jinn. "First, I put Girochin Kuwagata back onto the field in attack mode. Next, I reveal one of my two face down cards, Armored Glass. Any equip magic cards currently equipping a monster this turn are temporarily negated! So you can kiss 400 of your genie's attack points goodbye!" He said as I noticed him grab his recently drawn card from his hand of only two cards. "And I'll replace Mystic Plasma Zone with Rising Air Current! All wind type monsters' attack power is boosted by 500 points! So my card's attack climbs to 2200! His defense goes down by 400. But big deal! ATTACK LA JINN!" he commanded his insect card. It sped toward La Jinn and sliced him to bits with its teeth and claws. I was really surprised! Not only did he take out one of my most powerful low level cards, but he also decreased my life points to 6550 all in a skillful turn.

"That was a good move. I must say, it's gonna be harder to get to you, now!" I congratulated him.

"Yes, thank you. Oh, and Armored Glass has worn off now," he responded as I drew my next card, Weather Report (950/1500).

"I was hoping for a magic card," I thought to myself. "Oh well, It has good defense. So I'll put it out anyway," I thought as I slid it into defense mode, and signaling my turn to be over.

"Looks as though you are running out of options?" Craig asked with a smirk as he drew another card, "Hmm… out of these two cards, I really can't play any of them. But I'll just attack the defense card you played," he said as his insect made quick work of my Weather Report. "Weather Report?!?? Do you realize exactly how rare Swords of Revealing Light is? Why do you even have that card in your deck? Oh well," he said to me as he fanned out his two cards.

"Yeah… I know. But you never know when I'll need him…" I said, realizing he was actually right. So I drew a card, Swordstalker (2000/1600). "Okay, first I flip over my Trap Master!" I said as I quickly flipped my card over. "It's effect lets me attempt to disable one face up or face down trap card on your magic/ trap zone. So, since it's the only one there, let's attack THAT one!" I said as he looked at it. "Yeah, it was my Respect Play. I was going to activate it next turn so I could see what that card is that you haven't played since you drew it a few turns ago," he said as he dropped his trap off in the graveyard. "My Deepsea Shark," I though. "It's a fusion. So I'd need two offerings instead of just one like its five stars would otherwise require me to. Oh well," I thought as I put it under my Swordstalker. "It's your turn again, Craig!"

He drew a card and set it in defense mode. Then he attacked my Trap Master, leaving me with a bare field, "Your turn!" he said.

I drew a card praying for a low-level monster. I didn't get one. But at least it wasn't TOTALLY useless. I immediately activated it, "Nobleman of Crossout! It destroys one face down monster card and completely removes it from play. Also, if it has a flip effect, we must search our decks and take all monsters of the same name out. And whether we had the same card or not, we shuffle our decks!" I said as he flipped over his face down card, The Stern Mystic (1500/1200). "It's got a flip effect. And since your magic card doesn't say that flip effects can't be activated, I'll activate it. ALL face down cards are to be turned face up, and then returned to their original, face down positions, but no effects are activated," he said as stared at the two cards I had face down on the huge, holographic field. I revealed them, the Remove Trap and Solomon's Lawbook. "Okay, now we search our decks for the Stern Mystic and shuffle our decks," Craig recited from his memory.

I have a Stern Mystic and it was second to the top, behind my trap hole. Oh well, it's useless now. I shuffled my deck, as did Craig and his turn began. I felt so helpless with no monsters on the field. I prepared for two direct attacks. But to my surprise, "I sacrifice my Girochin Kuwagata to summon my favorite monster of all, Mr. Volcano (2100/1300)!" he said as some calm-looking man rose up from the digitalized arena. "Attack him directly!" Craig commanded him. Suddenly, the man opened his eyes, and fire seemed to erupt from everywhere he was. He stood still and gathered a huge storm of fire in his palm and let it fly right towards me. I had never been under a direct attack before, so I let out a little yell and felt rather stupid. But come on, a huge ball of fire? What would YOU do? Anyway, that attack had heavily lowered my life points to 4450. He had 4900. It wasn't by much, but he was winning!

"My turn now!" I said as I drew Enchanted Javelin I put it face down and ended my turn, unfortunately.

"Can't do anything else? Okay, I draw, do nothing and attack your life points AGAIN!" he commanded his favorite card. His eyes opened again with as much fury as last time.

"Not so fast!" I mentally slapped myself for saying something so corny, "I activate Enchanted Javelin. It increases my life points by however many attack points an attacking monster has!" So my life points rose, and then fell back down to 4450. I suppose it was better than having 2350, though. So it was my turn again. The card I drew almost made me cry out of happiness. It was Dragon Zombie (1600/0)! In this tournament, zombie monsters are considered invincible for one full turn. But they must be in face up attack mode for this effect to occur. It thought it was a stupid rule… until now. So I happily summoned it to the field and ended my turn. With nothing to attack, Craig drew a fourth card and ended his turn.

I drew my Mystical Elf (800/2000) and set it defense mode, then I switched my zombie to defense mode and ended my turn.

Craig put a card face down and attacked my zombie like I knew he would.

My turn, I drew Armored Zombie this time and summoned him to the field as well. I could tell that Craig was getting annoyed. But he just drew a card, attacked my Mystical Elf and did nothing else. We both were very aware how long this was taking. If it wasn't for the next card I drew, I probably would have screamed out of boredom. I was my Labyrinth Wall (0/3000)! I quickly sacrificed my zombie to set it in defense mode and ended my turn.

"AHHH! I'm so bored! No offense, but this is taking long! I hope the REAL tournament after the preliminaries start us off with 4000 life points, don't you?" he yelled as he set one monster on the field and attacked my wall. "Whoa! A Labyrinth Wall! Pretty good, there," he said as his life points dropped by 900.

I drew my next card, Dragon Piper (200/1800) and set it in defense mode. "Your turn again," I said with a small yawn.

He drew a card to boost his hand to six cards. Out of them all, he put one more face down and attacked my Dragon Piper, destroying it. As his turn was ending, he lost 550 life points, bringing his total down to 3450. "WHAT?" he yelled angrily.

"Your magic/ trap zone," I said, "You lost 550 life points because you have two cards of the same name face down. As a penalty, you lose life points and one of them are destroyed," I said as I drew my Summoned Skull (2500/1200). "Fine, I'll put this one in my graveyard," he said his detest. Then he looked at me signaling he was ready for my next move.

"I sacrifice my Labyrinth Wall to summon Summoned Skull!" I said. "Oh great," Craig said quietly. "ATTACK!" I watched in amazement as my Summoned Skull launched a lightning bolt in the sky and resulted in many lightning bolt shocking Mr. Volcano and ultimately destroying him. His life points went down to 3050.

He drew a card, set one in defense mode, and activated Toll. "This card makes us pay 500 life points for every one of our monsters to attack!" he said as he glanced at his graveyard. Mine was quite a pile, too.

So, I drew Wall of Illusion (1000/1850) and set it down. I didn't attack because the game was close enough. Besides, I had a plan with my defending card. I ended my turn.

Craig summoned a Cannon Soldier (1400/1300) and used its effect to decrease my life points to 3950. I didn't really care. This duel was almost over. I drew my next card, Metalmorph. I was surprised about the drawing of a really powerful card so late in the game but I decided to keep it in my hand. This duel was over! "And now I sacrifice this card, Wall of Illusion to summon Swordstalker! I attack your Cannon Soldier with it!" His life points sank to 2450. And I directly attack YOU with Summon Skull!" I commanded the frame of bones. It was amazing how quickly the the lightning stroke. I only blinked twice, I think. Sure, I lost 1000 life points to bring my total to 2050…

…but Craig's was at 0. I complimented him on how tough a duelist he was. He didn't believe me, but I explained to him that used his cards well and was the toughest I had been against that far. He felt better and gave me his Mr. Volcano.

"Whoa! Craig, are you absolutely sure you want to give me this card?" I asked in shock.

"Sure. Why not? I have two more in my 'useless deck' at home. So go ahead. But take care of it. And you better remember WHO you got it from!" he ordered me as I agreed. We shook hands, said goodbye and I headed back to the front gate…


	5. Tournament Stories part 5

Tournament Stories part 5

I anxiously paced back and forth between the two rusty poles on each end of the front gate.

"Where's Jack? I hope he didn't get disqualified in the second preliminaries. That would be so bad!" I said to myself as some little kid passing by heard me and looked at me funny.

I tried not to pay attention to him and focused my attention on some kid wearing a red shirt run in my direction. It was Jack, all right.

"I won! I did it! I'm officially in the real tournament now!" Jack said as he shoved his dueling deck in his pocket, "This is so cool," and he said my name, "you and I are now of the 256 left in this tournament. OH! I can't wait until tomorrow!" he said as he reached in his pocket for his deck again to show his newly won card. "And look at the card I won!" he said proudly.

"Not bad, Jack. It's a Rabid Horseman (2000/1700)! Do you have the fusion materials for it?" I gave him his card back as he looked at the bottom to see what monsters were required. "The Battle Ox and the Mystic Horseman? Sure. But I don't have a Polymerization," he said as he shuffled his deck on his knee and put his cards away again.

"Heh, NOBODY does! It's so uncommon!" I said as I thought about my Black Skull Dragon again.

"That's so true…" he commented as the towering loudspeakers buzzed again.

"Congratulations, duelists! All 256 of you have survived long enough to make it to the actual tournament of this tournament. We have been carefully monitoring your skills with the database network we have running through each arena. But I must say… some of you are here by default, errors made by your opponents, or by using too many direct damage cards. And that will be your undoing. Needless to say, many of you will find it very difficult to hold your own from here on in because NOW, you will be using dueling discs instead of arenas and instead of 8000 life points, you start off each duel with 4000 life points. Some rules will be added- which you will have to discover, and some will be taken away like the 550 life point penalty for two identical face down magic/trap cards, and the immortal zombie for one turn rule. It's all in the name of quicker, more exciting and challenging duels. Have fun! And don't forget that now that these are the actual tournaments, the loser must give the winner a card of 2000 attack strength or higher AND a magic or trap card of the winner's choice, so long as it is rare. These are the trying times of a duelist. There is no room for error here. Good luck, and have a good night," that man's voice from this morning was being heard all throughout the island. I still couldn't decipher whose voice it was. Neither could anyone else.

"Okay, boys. Time for your room assignments!" the short lady came up to a group of us who were discussing strategies in dueling and made us form a line. "These cards have been randomly shuffled. These cards contain monsters as weak as 0 attack to 1500 attack and from 100 to 1500 defense with no rares, no effect cards, and no holos. You will each draw one card from anywhere in the deck. There are exactly five copies of each card in this whole deck. After everyone has drawn, find the other four with the same exact monster on it. They will be your roommates. And you can keep the card you draw as a souvenir or something," the lady tapered off as she walked down the line of boys as we all drew one card. I drew Sorcerer of the Doomed (1450/1200). And strangely enough, as if by fate, so did Jack who was standing about three people to the left of me. The other three were guys named Mike, Doug, and Steve. 

Mike was about 12. He was short and had red hair with blue eyes. Come to think of it, I think he was the person I saw attacking with his Swordstalker as I first entered the tournament. Doug was 16, my age. And he was pretty down-to-earth with his laid back views on things and how this tournament is an awesome opportunity to meet people instead of win cards or money. I agreed with him. And Steve had to be at least 17. He was growing a thin, light brown mustache and was very tall-looking in his black clothes. I could tell that he wanted nothing to do with the rest of us, but something told me that he wasn't going to be here for too much longer, anyway.

"Now listen up!" the short lady was now standing on a plastic milk crate on top of a stage overlooking the crowd with a megaphone up to her mouth. "Go to the hotel in the center of the island. At the info desk tell them your name to see if you received any mail from other people. Also, you will receive your duel disc system. Once you are done you can go to your rooms, you can have practice duels on the premises using the systems but NOT giving the winners any cards, or do whatever you wish on the island as long as you are in your rooms by 11pm, not a minute later. And don't even think about boarding with the girls. We have a surveillance team on watch all night, got it?!??" she commanded as she marched off the stage and went back behind her little stand.

"I'm not going just yet, guys. I want to explore this island more," I said to the group of four.

"I'll go with you," my name was said. Steve said, surprisingly. "You and I can have a practice duel using an arena…" Something didn't sound right about the way he said that. I became suspicious, but never let anyone know it by keeping on a smile and responded, "Okay, sure! Anyone else wanna come?" I asked a bit nervously.

"I'll come," Jack said. "I wanna see how you duel, and maybe find out your favorite card which, by the way, you still need to give me another clue!" he continued as he walked towards me.

"I'm going to the hotel to see if I got any packages or anything. AND I wanna check out the new duel discs!" Doug said as Mike nodded in silent agreement. They walked off towards the center of the island. As for the other three of us, we searched for an arena.

We quickly found an arena and rose up on the little elevators. The decks were shuffled, our life points were set to 4000, oddly enough, on the huge counters, and we began!

"You go first," he said. So I did.

I drew my first 5 cards and then another one because I was starting the duel. I thought to myself, "Okay! I've got Change of Heart, Share the Pain, Lightforce Sword, Sword of Deep-Seated (my favorite equip magic card), Island Turtle, and Mr. Volcano."

"Here I go, Steve," I said as Jack looked up at me. "I set this card in defense mode and put this one card face down on the field," I ended my turn as Steve drew his first card and took his turn, "I set these two cards on the field and summon Dark Zebra (1800/400) in attack mode and attack your defense card!" The zebra charged at my card as I grinned. The zebra made contact and seemed to bounce off the turtle I had set. The attack failed, and Steve lost 200 life points.

"My turn," I said as I drew my next card. It was my favorite magic card of them all, Tribute to the Doomed! I couldn't help but smile as I made my next move, "First, I use Change of Heart to control your Dark Zebra. Now I use it as a tribute to summon my Mr. Volcano (2100/1300) in attack mode!" Steve looked pretty surprised. "Next, I equip my monster with my favorite equip magic card of all, Sword of Deep-Seated! It boosts his attack and defense by 500 points! And now I attack your life points directly!" I said as Mr. Volcano rose his hand high in the air and gathered an intense ball of flames in his hand. He threw it right towards Steve at an amazing speed. But then he activated a trap card, "Waboku! It decreases all damage received by an opponent's monster to zero during the turn I activate it. So sorry. It would have worked- only it didn't," we both watched as a mystical barrier surrounded Steve's entire side of the field. The fireball collided with it and instantly dissipated. "My move!" Steve yelled across the field.

He slowly drew a card and glanced at it for only a second. For some reason, I activated my trap card I had face down, "Lightforce Sword! It allows me to randomly choose one card from your hand to place, face down, outside of the field. It returns to your hand on your 4th turn's standby phase since the card's activation!" So Steve obediently put each of the four cards in his hand face up on a special platform below the magic/trap zone. (He put them face up on HIS side so the image-reading camera under the platforms would see them as face down.) Instantly, four giant holographic face down cards appeared on the field and four yellow lights appeared on the same zone on my side of the field. Assuming I had to press one light to designate it as the target, I chose. "I pick the second card from the right," I pressed the corresponding button and we both watched as the spot below it turned red. Removing the other three cards, Steve looked at them and said, "Big deal! In fact, you actually helped me out by lightening my load. Now get ready, because now I use my magic card Soul Exchange!" I let out a gasp, wide-eyed. "Soul Exchange lets me-" "I know what it does, Steve. Just choose one and sacrifice it, already," I interrupted him. "Fine. I choose to sacrifice YOUR Mr. Volcano to summon MY Curse of Dragon (2000/1500)! Lucky for you, Soul Exchange makes me skip my battle phase for this turn. So now you go," he said, proud of himself. And to be honest, it was a pretty good move.

I drew Sword of Deep-Seated, like I knew I would, and slyly glanced at Steve, "Are you ready for this?" I asked. "I can take anything you throw at me!" Steve yelled. "We'll see…" I said as I grabbed two cards from my hand. "First, I switch my Island Turtle to attack mode. Next, I equip it with my Sword of Deep-Seated which brings up its attack and defense by 500, as you know-" I was interrupted when Steve said, "Wait, wait! Your Sword of Deep-Seated should be in the graveyard! I used your Mr. Volcano as a tribute, so any cards it was equipped with are destroyed, too!" "True," I said, "but not THIS card, and that's one reason why it's my favorite. Every time this card is sent to the graveyard, it returns to the top of my deck!" I said as I continued my turn. "But anyway, I now activate my favorite magic card, Tribute to the Doomed! I discard one card from my hand to destroy one monster card on the field. It doesn't matter if it's in attack mode, defense mode, a special summon, or anything! This card gets rid of it!" So I put Share the Pain in my graveyard as his Curse of Dragon vanished from the field. "And NOW I attack your life points directly!" I said as I remembered he had another card face down on the field. Luckily, he didn't activate it as the turtle quickly crashed into his dueling platform, much like a turbo-powered tugboat. His life points decreased from 3800 to 2200. And I still had 4000, somehow. But then it was his turn again.

He drew a card and instantly put it on the field. "Tremendous Fire!" he announced. Jack took a step back in surprise. "You lose 1000 life points. I lose 500," Steve said as I heard my life points go beep beep beep beep beep…BEEP to 3000. But HE had 1700 now! "Why?" I said to myself. I then got my answer. "And NOW I activate Numinous Healer!" Steve glared at me as he revealed his other face down card. When I take damage to my life points, I get 1000 life points!" Steve said as his clothes moved around in some wind made by an angel's wings on the field which brought his life points up to 2700. "Jeez. That's the second time that card's been used against me in this whole tournament!" I thought, remembering my duel against Jenny. "And now I summon Overdrive (1600/1500) in attack mode!" he said as I glanced down at Jack to notice his sorting out his cards. I could tell he lost interest in the duel. "Your turn," Steve said.

I drew my Swordstalker. "Now I'll sacrifice my Island Turtle to summon Swordstalker (2000/1600) in attack mode! Destroy that machine!" I commanded. My warrior ran forward and took a slash at the vehicle. It sparked and exploded, causing Steve to lose 400 life points brining his total to 2300.

"Ugh… whatever!" Steve said as he drew his next card. He put it in defense mode and ended his turn.

I drew my Sword of Deep-Seated again. I equipped my Swordstalker with it, raising its attack and defense by 500 and attacked his defense monster- Giant Soldier of Stone.

"My turn again," Steve said a bit nervously. He drew a card, and we both noticed the red light under our magic/trap zones vanish. "Oh yeah, Lightforce Sword is done now. You get your card back," I said. "Alright!" Steve said as he snatched his card from where it was placed 4 turns ago. Now he had two cards in his hand. And judging by the way he looked at them, they were good. "It's Pot of Greed time!" he said. Even Jack looked up. He gleefully drew two cards from his deck and dropped his expired card in his graveyard. Examining his cards he then said, "And now I'll play Sonic Bird (1400/1000) in face up defense mode! I know you know what it does because I was watching your duel against my friend Craig. He's such a great duelist- I can't believe you beat him. So I'M going to beat YOU!" he yelled as he fingered through his deck for some ritual magic card. He found one and put it in his hand. Then he shuffled his deck and continued his turn. I began to get worried. "I set two magic cards face down and end my turn," he said.

I drew my next card hoping it would be a magic card. It was so very not a magic card. It was none other than my Black Skull Dragon! I couldn't believe it! It's gold-foiled name, holographic background, and 9 level stars glittered in my eyes. But I quickly became angry because I'd need THREE tribute monsters to bring it on the field. Damn it! So I got rid of his Sonic Bird and ended my turn.

"Looks like it's back to me!" Steve said. He drew a card and looked at me blankly as if he was taking back all the things he said to me. But I knew he wasn't I just hoped it wasn't some ultra-powerful low-leveled card. Thankfully it was only Monster Reborn, which he used to revive his Sonic Bird, which he THEN used as a tribute to set one card in defense mode. And he didn't even touch the two cards he placed down one turn ago. "Your move," he told me.

I could tell that Jack was looking at me as I looked at him through the corner of my eye. But my attention was focused on the Harpie's Brother that I just drew. I decided just to set it in defense mode, figuring it wouldn't be too useful. So to finish my turn I attacked his defending monster: Labyrinth Wall (0/3000). I lost 500 life points for that. And all Steve could do was laugh as my total came to 2500. I was now only winning by 200 points.

"This duel is almost over!" he said to me as he drew his next card. "I'm not going to put down any cards and attack because, seeing how you dueled Craig, that card you've got face down is probably an effect card which will be used against me. So instead of activating it myself, I'll just set this one magic/trap card face down and end my turn.

I drew my next card, the Dark Zebra (1800/400) and set it in defense mode. Steve said, "I'll bet that's another effect card! So I'm not attacking it. Sorry, but your plan is gonna fail. I draw a card and just put this card in defense mode and activate Ground Collapse! As long as it's face-up, two of your monster card zones can't be occupied by monsters- only because your forces are getting pretty numerous," he said while he flipped over one of his three face down cards. He continued, "And I use Dian Keto the Cure Master. My life points increase by 1000!" I groaned as that beep beep beep beep BEEP returned to again increase his life points by another thousand. "And that's not all! NOW I activate another Tremendous Fire!" he shouted as my life points went down to 1500. He had 2800.

Now it was my turn. I drew my Crab Turtle and prepared to summon my ultimate monster. "Steve! I sacrifice all THREE of my monsters to directly summon my top monster- the Black Skull Dragon!" All three of us looked up in disbelief as a gigantic dragon emerged from the dueling arena. Its wings spread out far. Its roar was deafening. And its attack was equally amazing, "And the first thing to go is your Labyrinth Wall!" I yelled as my dragon opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Slowly, a glowing ball of red developed in front of it and was ready to launch. "Molten fireball attack!" I yelled. Instantly, a blaze of red streaked across the arena and collided with his wall. The loud hydraulics under our platforms shook us around violently as if to simulate the shaking of the earth as a result of the blast. All it did for me, however, was give me a headache.

But Steve was a different story. He just stood there wide-eyed. "I- I don't believe what I'm seeing. It's actually the Black Skull Dragon…! I used to dream about owning that card," he trailed off into some personal soliloquy, I could tell, because of the way he stared at the vicious dragon in front of him. I wondered if he was still all in one piece.

My name was shouted by Jack, "Is THAT your most powerful card?" he said quieter as to not disturb Jack from his obvious state of oblivion. Replying affirmatively to his question, I looked beyond Jack at a warehouse light that caught my eye because of its odd location. There was a single light on above the door illuminating in a cone shape all the way down to the sidewalk where I saw two young women, all dressed in black staring at me from underneath their dark hoods. I remembered seeing them during my duel against Jenny.

Paying no attention to them, I looked back at Steve who had his hand on his deck. "Why are you giving up? You're winning!" I said as he shoved his deck down about an inch. It made a clicking noise which shut off all the holographic hardware. My dragon slowly disappeared into a memory. And Steve's face down card was never revealed. I had a hunch that it was an effect card, but oh well. "Well, for NOW I'm winning. But it will be only a matter of time. I'm surrendering. I don't even have as much as a Dragon Capture Jar in my deck to help me out. No combination I could ever manage out of my deck is strong enough to take on that card. And I have no cards like Tribute to the Doomed to directly destroy a monster. Oh man, I was wrong. You're a fine duelist. In fact, I'm amazed that I've made it THIS far. Can you forgive my being a dork towards you? Even without that card, you may as well have beaten me," he said as he gathered up his card and looked through them showing me his strongest cards- Crab Turtle and Gaia the Dragon Champion. "You're not THAT bad," I responded. "And I forgive you. And mind you, Craig was a tough opponent. It wasn't easy at all. You saw it, right? I only won by 1000. Anyway, let's get to the hotel. I wanna see the new duel discs!" I said friendily.

"WAIT!" jack said, "What about another clue to your favorite card?" he asked.

"Right… okay. Um… it's NOT a Dragon type!" I smiled as Steve and I walked on ahead.

"Well gee. There goes any hope of Tyhone #2 (1700/1900)," Jack sarcastically commented.


	6. Tournament Stories part 6

Tournament Stories part 6

Back at the hotel, there was still a pretty long line stretching out of the front doors waiting to get their rooms, possible mail sent to them, and duel discs. I said to Steve and Jack, "I wonder how Doug and Mike are doing?" Just then, as if to answer my question, I saw them both quickly walking up to us. "Steve! Jack! (and my name)! We already have the room, everyone's mail, and enough duel discs for all of us!" Mike yelled as he slowed down to a casual walk. He was a lugging two boxes of duel discs in his short arms. Wiping his forehead after giving them to Jack and Steve, I noticed Doug also carrying a box as well as a huge bag with its strap looped over his arm."(my name)! Take this dueling disc thingy before my arm snaps off!" I ran over and removed the light box from his arms. He then let the bag fall and hit the ground with an audible thud… "What's in there?" Jack asked as he fit on his dueling disc. Steve wasn't paying attention at all as he played with the on/off switch of his dueling disc. "In here is Steve's, (my name)'s, and Jack's mail," Doug replied, "But it's mostly (my name)'s," he continued as he reached his hand in to get everything out.

Jack got two booster packs, a backpack with food, clothes, and a note in it (the heaviest item in the whole bag), and a book- all obviously from his mother.

Steve also got two booster packs, a golden chain, a notebook, pen and pencil, and a card wrapped in tissues- all obviously from his father. Noticing that the rest of us noticed this odd sight, he took a peek at the card inside and excitedly shoved it into his deck with a smug smile on his face. Figuring he wouldn't tell us what card it was, we all just laughed.

But as for me, I got six booster packs, a small pack with a bit of food and water in it, and a Joey starter deck. "That Joey Wheeler dude must be so rich right now because his deck was transformed into a starter!" I commented as I put everything in the pack.

"FORGET Joey! Look at all those cards you got! And an entire starter with 50 cards in it- all of which are owned by Joey Wheeler! And his starter deck is one of the most expensive in the whole world since that Duelist Kingdom tournament ended! Are your parents millionaires?" Jack exclaimed. I looked around at all the people passing by who glared at me as if to say, "Lucky jerk!"

"No, Jack! All this stuff isn't even from my parents anyway! Read this note that came with the pack!" I said.

Jack read, "You have something we want. Stay in this tournament by any means necessary! -J and S" After reading it, Jack said, "I wonder who "J and S" are? And what do you have that they want? Maybe your Bl-"

"SHHHH!" I ordered him as I put my fingers swiftly up to my lips. I wanted as few people knowing about that card as possible. I then knew that I must protect that card more than any of them in my deck.

"Well I doubt that it's Jack and Steve," I said to Doug, looking back to them with a smirk.

"Ha- funny. Anyway, let's get to our room. I want to see if the rooms have cable TV!" Steve said.

"No…" Mike responded, "but each room DOES have two computers with Internet access!" he continued as Doug and I ran off ahead. I hadn't even opened the box my dueling disc was in yet.

Running with Doug, I said to him in an attempt to break the silence, "What time is it?" He looked at his watch and back at me and said, "9:45! We've got an hour and fifteen minutes until 11!" I said thanks and ran past him, darting towards the front entrance. Luckily, there were no other people to crash into, so I slid to a stop on the slick dirt. Calmly walking in, I politely brushed off my clothes and walked towards the staircase. I looked back to see if I could see Doug behind me. But instead, I saw some mysterious door to the receptionist's left. Not noticing me as she lazily flipped through her magazine I tried to look to see if it was really a door and not just some unlit piece of wall attached to the wall. I got a little startled when some janitor popped out of it and said something to the receptionist. She just swayed her hand from side to side with her fingers only half extended, and the man walked off with a disappointed look on his face. "Well, that answers my question," I said to myself as I continued up the stairs.

In the room, Doug and I were checking our e-mail. We had already claimed two top bunks on the beds.

"Darn… no new mail for me. Well, whoever else wants to use it can. I need to modify my deck for tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe I'll face one of you guys!" Doug said as he pushed the chair in and climbed up the ladder to his bunk. He took out his cards and started sorting them out saying, "Monster, monster, trap, magic, trap, monster, magic, monster…"

Looking back at the computer's monitor, I noticed that I had 10 new messages. "Whoa! TEN?!??" I thought to myself as I looked in the bottom right hand corner at the computer's clock. It was 10pm, too. Excited, I went to my inbox and was disappointed to find out that seven of them were advertisements- mainly for insurance and ebay.com. Trying to find e-mail subjects that didn't have the word 'buy' in it, I scrolled down and spotted one that said, "Click here for dueling tips!" Figuring that I could always learn more, I clicked the subject hoping to learn hidden tips and tricks. It provided little new information to me. In fact, the only thing that I didn't know in that whole e-mail was that dueling was spelled with two l's. Whoever sent that mail was obviously not too well endowed in the spelling department.

Deleting that mail, I searched for the other two that I spotted not appearing to have anything to do with commerce.

I located one with the subject line: Message to most Gree Island Tournament Duelists! Two thoughts came to my mind after I read this, "Why does it say that it is addressed to MOST of the duelists? And I guess the name of this Island is Gree Island… weird name." Not thinking too much past that, I opened the e-mail. It read, "Congratualtions, duelist! You are of the 64 chosen by this tournament's host to take part in a special event. Right now, we ask you to leave the room you are in, go up to the desk and say your name. The receptionist there will look at a list for your name. You then will be allowed to enter a secret door only for you selected duelists. (Your dueling skill has no effect on whether you have been chosen or not. These drawings were completely random out of all the remaining duelists.) In that secret room, you will notice 32 distinct boxes. Given there are others in that room, you must find someone to duel against. Do not be afraid. You will not lose cards if you lose. Nor will you gain any cards or prizes if you win one or many out of the three duels you shall take part in. This is merely for fun and to experience the types of duelists out there. Arrive whenever you like BEFORE 10:15 because at 11:35 we will end this experience and send you back to your rooms. Hope to see you there! -Mr. Greanor -official representative of the Gree Island Tournament's host"

I heard a knock at the door as Doug kept sorting through his deck, "…monster, monster, monster, magic, trap, monster…" I opened the door and got a piece of paper from a man who just walked off as I accepted the letter which said basically the same thing I had just viewed on my Yahoo-mail account.

Everybody was staring at me as I reentered the room. Anticipating the question, "What's that?" I quoted from the letter to answer their unasked question, "I've been invited to attend a secret party of duels. Leave your duel disc in your room. Just bring your deck and prepare for fun!" They all wished me good luck as I closed my mailbox, and turned off the computer. So I exited the room leaving Doug to his assortment of cards, Jack and Mike with their practice duel with just the cards, and Steve at the computer Doug was at.

It took me a short time to get to the first floor that the receptionist was at. And I eyed the door that I noticed the janitor come out of earlier. "Did you get that letter, or are you planning to escape?" she asked with a minorly sarcastic but overall cranky voice. Trying to calm her down, I responded, "Oh! Oh no, miss. I did get the letter. My name is," and I said my name. "Okay. You may enter. It's 10:10, enjoy yourself," she mumbled as the door loudly clicked shut. The resonance from the loud noise echoed infinitely through the musty room. As my eyes got used to the lower level of light I was surprised to see, instead of people, pods with people in them, lying completely still. The dull hum of electricity surging through wires now took over the room as I was looking in the shadows for an opponent. Breathing in the air through my nose, I noticed the faint smell of cigars or something. Trying to look upward, I only saw a dimly lit window. I noticed a brighter light in the center of the room shaped like a square. There was one person arranging his deck waiting for someone to duel against. I said hello to him and he looked up at me. We instantly recognized each other. "Jonathan!" I said with slight detest. Pleasantly surprised he stood up and replied, "Ah, it's you! I can't believe that YOU are in this tournament! And I'm even more surprised that you've made it so far as this! Well, then. This should be just a blast from the past for both of us; are we gonna duel?" Just then, another guy walked in through the door that opened as loudly as it closed. I thought about backing down for a second. But then I figured that it was no big deal if I lost because I'd lose no cards. Looking at my rival I said, "Yeah. Let's duel!" Jonathan led me to a set of empty pods in the rear of the room which reflected the center light like someone's glasses reflect light in a dark movie theater. It was kind of creepy. I watched as he hopped into the blue one, put his deck in some slot, closed the hatch and motioned for me to get in the red one. I looked at him, remembering how he beat me for first place in the tournament at school. He won by 2050 life points in an 8000 life point game. He was the toughest duelist I had gone up against ever. But, saying that I had nothing to lose, I climbed in, shuffled my deck, put it in the slot and waited. Out of nowhere, I heard Jonathan's voice, "Are you ready to lose?" he taunted with a little laugh. "Shut up and let's just get this over with. What do I do here?" I asked blindly as I peered through the plastic around me. It was facing directly towards my opponent's, but I could barely see even the light reflecting off of his. However, the air conditioning was pretty good. So I felt comfortable.

"Okay. After you put your deck into the slot, press the red button above you." I looked up to see a red button, shining brightly, but not bright enough that I would have seen it as I first entered the pod. I tapped it and listened again. "Pressing it only means that you accept the duel and the slot that your cards are in is now locked until the duel ends. Okay, now when the yellow button to your right is pressed, the screen in front of you will light up and display choices for this duel. You can customize everything from the initial life points, to the arena, and to the time limit. But just to speed this up, let's make this a 4000 life points duel, THIS tournament's rules, Ancient Egyptian arena, no time limit, and no pain when life points are damaged," he commanded me as his voice fizzled over the speakers that I could now see above me to the top left and top right. I felt like I was in a Star Trek episode as I pressed my fingers against the glass in front of me making the decisions made for me. And so after I selected the life point number, the screen seemed to darken heavily only to reveal a green and blue "start" button.

I heard Jonathan's voice one last time, "Once you press start, you'll find yourself in a virtual arena where we will duel. Everything is completely safe and the wires are hardwired to the ground and network so nobody can unplug your machine. It doesn't hurt, so whenever you are ready, press start." And the com clicked off as I was in the machine, listening to the air conditioner's silent whispers of cool air. I reached out my hand and pressed the start button. The machine jolted and began to power up. It sounded kind of like a laser gaining power right before it would fire. I was calm until some computerized female voice monotonously droned, "Entering virtual duel in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…" the voice began to sound father and farther away as I felt myself drift off into some unknown world. All of a sudden, I found myself standing in some giant room that looked like a tomb. I was right in front of a small pedestal with my deck in its proper place. Carved onto the pedestal were lines marking zones like the graveyard and monster zones. I didn't feel scared until Jonathan "arrived." A huge blazing ball of light grew larger across from me behind another pedestal. "What a dramatic entrance! Is that how I came here?" I thought to myself. Taking a step back (I was surprised that everything felt real in this world, from my clothes to the coolness of the pedestal.) I looked my opponent in the eye. It was time to duel!

"How about we flip a COIN to see who goes first?" Jonathan emphasized the word coin and made a giant holographic coin pop up in front of us. He said, "I'm heads, you're tails!" and the toss began. All the coin did was rotate from where it was with an "h" side and a "t" side. It wasn't impressive, but I still couldn't believe the realness of the heat being thrown off from the torches around us. The coin toss ended in my favor, and I began the duel. As I drew my sixth card, a giant "scoreboard" appeared in front of us. It had our picture, life points, what phase we are in, how many cards are left in our decks, heck, even how many cards are in our hands! I thought that was convenient.

I looked at my first hand. It was a Soul Release, Dark Magician, Metalmorph, Princess of Tsurugi, De-spell, and Trap Master. "It's a good thing I distributed all the useful cards from those boosters and Joey's starter into my deck in the hotel room!" I thought to myself.

"First, I put this card in defense mode, and these three cards face down on the field!" I announced to Jonathan as the "(my name)'s hand" counter went down to two. And I watched the field as three holographic models of actual face-down cards, instead of yellow blinking lights, appeared.

"Already cowering from me? Well, I promise to make this brief," he said as he drew the top card from his deck. The "Jonathan's Hand" counter beeped up to 6. "First, I set these FOUR cards face down on the field, and summon 7 Colored Fish (1800/800) in attack mode! Next, I'll attack your face down monster!" he said to me with detest for me. We witnessed the colorful fish dash towards my face down card and make it flip over to reveal my Princess of Tsurugi. Sure, she was destroyed, but Jonathan lost 2000 life points bringing his total to 2000! The rapid "beep beep beep beep BEEP!" pleasantly echoed through the vast arena that we were in. "WHAT!" Jonathan angrily yelled. When did you get THAT card?" he yelled to me. I noticed a green bar parallel to his life points, swiftly decrease to the halfway mark as the number displayed his total and responded, "I got it about half an hour ago in some Joey Starter Deck that I got from some strangers!" I foolishly said. It sounded stupid enough with that "strangers" part, so I decided to go for it all and make something stupid-sounding sound stupid!

"…Lucky jerk…" he mumbled under his breath. But I could hear him just fine, thanks to the walls in this place.

I drew my next card before I looked up at the scoreboard. "I have three cards in my hand, Jonathan has one," I thought to myself. I looked at my Share the Pain that I just drew and began to feel uneasy. "My Dark Magician needs two monsters in order to be summoned onto the field. All I've got are this magic card that can't be used right now, and my Trap Master. I hope my next card is a monster," I thought as I grabbed my Trap Master. "I set this card in face down defense mode and-" I was cut off by Jonathan who activated, "Light of Intervention! Your face down card is flipped face up!" I replied, "Sure, but you've activated his effect. I'm sure you know what the Trap master (500/1100) does; I get to destroy that very card you just activated," I smirked. "Okay, let's continue this chain when I activate Driving Snow! Since you destroyed one of my trap cards, I can destroy one magic or trap card on the field. So kiss the card on your left goodbye!" he said in an annoyed voice. I think I had thwarted an important part of his plan by getting rid of his Light of Intervention. But luckily, he had only destroyed my Soul Release. "Well, good playing. That move was well-planned," I commented. "Be quiet! Don't get cocky because you have a slight lead," Jonathan demanded. I looked up at the scoreboard and noticed his total was half of my total and thought, "A slight lead, he says?" I also noticed that his deck had fewer total cards in it. My counter read: 94/101 which meant that I drew eight cards already. Jonathan's counter read: 80/86. "Whatever. Anyway, that was my turn. You can go now," I said.

"Fine. First I draw," I watched the red light go to the right as his phases progressed. The Standby Phase light was skipped since no cards requiring a standby phase were out. "Now I'll put Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams (1300/1800) in face-up defense mode. And finally, I'll attack your Trap Master with my 7 Colored Fish!" he commanded as the fish lurched forward and diced my warrior with its tail. "Your move," he said.

I drew my Island Turtle and instantly put it in defense mode. Then it was his turn again.

Drawing another card, he smiled and said, "I sacrifice my two monsters to summon Ryu-Ran (2200/2600) in attack mode! And now I'll fry your face down card!" he announced with an accomplished grin. "Not likely!" I yelled back, "Activate trap: Metalmorph!" he looked at me in disbelief. Just then, a highly reflective metal coat of armor appeared around my turtle, attached itself, and raised his defensive power to 2300- 100 more than his Ryu-Ran. So he lost the 100 point difference from his life points. "ARRGH! YOU! When did you get such a rare card?" he yelled as I looked at my life points- unscathed. "Maybe I'm just lucky with booster packs!" I smirked back as I drew my next card. It was the Horn of the Unicorn! I wasted no time with my next move, "I equip my Island Turtle with Horn of the Unicorn which raises its attack AND defense by 700 points! Next I switch him to attack mode and attack your Ryu-Ran!" I loved hearing the rapid "beep beep beep beep beep BEEP!" sound boost up my turtle's power not only by the equip card, but by Metalmorph's effect, too. The white box above my turtle now contained the figure [2900/3000] right before it attacked his Ryu-Ran! That's pretty powerful for a level four card! My souped-up turtle rushed ahead at the dragon and tackled him, causing him to hit the wall behind Jonathan. He disappeared and Jon lost another 700 life points bringing his total to 1200. "I WILL win this duel, no matter what!" he angrily said as he yanked the top card off his deck. He still had two face down cards on the field and now had two cards in his hand. "Alright, I'll just put this monster in defense mode," he said.

Beginning to get the feeling that he was planning something, I began to get cautious with what cards I play. I drew Dian Keto the Cure Master which made me feel better. "I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master to increase my life points by 1000!" I said. "Big deal," Jon said back. "And now I'll attack your face down card!" I said as my turtle's attack rose to 2650, "that means that the face down card only has 1100 attack," I said to myself. To my horror, the face down card was the Tornado Bird. "I get to return TWO magic or trap cards from the field to their owner's hand! So guess which ones are going back! Your equip card and trap card!" I was shocked by the sudden comeback he had made. With my turtle's attack power now only 1100 again, I was pretty screwed! And it was Jonathan's turn.

He drew another card and grinned, "Oh, you're sorry now! First I lay this card face down. Next, I summon Flash Assailant (2000/2000) in attack mode! And this just keeps getting better. You remember that card I just put down? Well it's no trap, it's MY favorite equip card: Mask of Brutality! It increases my monster's attack by 1000 points! Sure, it decreases its defense by 1000 also, but that's not too important to me…" he waved his empty hand at me goodbye and commanded his creepy looking monster to attack my Island Turtle. And I took a major 1900 hit to my life points, bringing me down to 3100. "But are you sure you wanted to combine THOSE two things together?" I asked a bit confused as my life point bar decreased to about 3/4 of the way full. "Why? What are you trying to say to me?" he responded as he looked around his giant fiend to me. "No reason… no reason," was my reply.

I drew my Darkfire Soldier- one of my newest cards from Joey's Starter Deck and formulated a plan. "With the cards that have been returned to my hand, and the Flash Assailant's effect AND the Mask of Brutality's effect, winning should be no problem!" I thought to myself. But there were still those two face down cards that he was still to reveal. Taking a risk, I made my move. "I call upon the Darkfire Soldier #1 (1700/1150) in attack mode! Next I equip him with the Horn of the Unicorn which raises HIS attack to 2400. And finally I set these two cards face down on the field and end my turn without attacking," I said after placing my Metalmorph AND Share the Pain on the field as a safe guard in case he would try to eliminate my trap. Which he didn't, surprisingly.

"I draw this one wimpy card and activate Solomon's Lawbook which skips my own Standby Phase. And that's a good thing too, because of my mask's dangerous effect. Anyway, now I think I'll attack your puny pyro card and further give me the advantage in this ridiculous duel! Attack, Flash Assailant!" Jonathan yelled his command to his eye-patch wearing monster to attack my Darkfire Soldier. But then I smiled and "Activate Metalmorph again!" I yelled as I flipped over my card. And also again, a shiny shield latched onto my soldier. "What good will it do you? My Assailant has 3000 attack points. Even with that small 300 point bonus, it only adds up to 2700. THAT'S not enough to-" and I cut him off by saying, "You see that card in your hand??" I questioned him. "What about it, loser?" he said back as I laughed. Meanwhile, the Flash Assailant was stuck in mid-air as this conversation progressed. I guessed it was like an automatic pause function. "Look at your Flash Assailant," I told him. The eerie quiet sunk into our ears as he snatched his card off the pedestal for a closer look. I heard water dripping in the background. "Level 4, 2000 attack and defense," he recited. "And I assume you know of the effect?" I implied. "Yeah, for every card in my hand it loses- AH! NO WAY!" and instantly the action unpaused as I finished his statement, "For every card in your hand, your Flash Assailant LOSES 400 attack and defense points! The effect is applied as soon as you draw a card!" I said sternly to him. We both watched as the weakened monster took a violently fast swing at my soldier with his knife. But My soldier was burning up in fire as he blocked his attacked with his curved sword. And as a counter attack, he shoved him back and pointed his sword towards the assailant, which launched an impressive display of fire headed right towards it. The Flash Assailant was gone. And after all that, Jon lost but only 100 life points. Which left him at 1100. And it was my turn.

I thought victory was pretty close as he had no monsters on the field- only one magic or trap card. I drew a Lady Assailant of Flames- another new card from one of the booster packs- and set it in defense mode, just in case I'd need it. Then attacked with my Darkfire Soldier in anticipation of winning this duel. Unfortunately, that mystery card was a trap card, "I activate Trap Hole! Your Darkfire Soldier #1 is finally done!" he said in a kind of rapping tone of voice. "Just great," I said to myself. "What else could go wrong?" I thought.

After Jonathan drew a second card he set one card face down and put one card in face up defense mode. "Here comes Ooguchi (300/250)! Attack his life points directly, please!" and before I knew it, this giant purple blob that looked like a dog fires pins from its back which homed into me and caused me lose 300 life points. I now had 2800, he has 1100. He was closing the gap. "Don't even try attacking!" he warned me.

I drew my Horn of the Unicorn again. (which always returns to the top of the deck when sent to the graveyard unless it is removed from play) I put it in front of my Dark Magician that was getting warm in my hand having been there so long. I continued my turn by flipping over my face down card. "What is THAT?" Jon asked. "I think you should be more worried of the Lady Assailant of Flames (1500/1000)'s EFFECT! I remove the top three cards of my deck from play to inflict 800 points of direct damage to your life points!" The rapid beeping returned to further diminish his life points to 300. I was certain I was going to win as I removed my Nobleman of Crossout, Magican of Faith, and Labyrinth Wall out of the duel. They vanished into thin air, but I knew this wasn't real.

He drew his next card with a sigh of relief and spoke, "My turn. And it looks as if you have gotten a hold of some really good cards since we dueled last at school. To be honest, I never thought you would last even THIS long against me," he said with fake camaraderie. "But…" he paused and his tone went darker as he activated his face down card which WASN'T a trap at all. It was the single card that no duelist likes to have used against them- Soul Exchange! "…When will you learn that you just CAN'T beat me! So I now use your pathetic card as a tribute to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200) in attack mode! And, as you know, Soul Exchange forces me to skip my battle phase, but I can still directly damage you with my Ooguchi! Here we go again!" he said as he spread out his hands in the "I don't know" formation. Those dumb purple missles were launched towards me and further decreased my life points to 2500- enough to be killed by the Summoned Skull!

I drew my next card. It was my other Lady Assailant of Flames. I angrily wondered why I put two of these in my deck. Pissed off, I slapped it in defense mode and let out an exasperated groan.

"Hiding only makes losing worse- you know that first hand, right?" he happily said as he drew his next card. "Oh Ooguchi, kindly take out 300 more of his life points, won't you?" he commanded with a friendly voice as my life points sunk to 2200. "And just to make sure you don't try anything sneaky with that face down card, I'LL use Dian Keto, too to increase my life points by 1000 just like you did!" he said as he used the last card in his hand to bump up his life points to 1300. "But I won't attack this turn, either. So go ahead and make your next move!" he intimidated, "I promise it will be your last!"

I drew my next card. It was my favorite equip magic card: Sword of Deep-Seated! I looked at Jonathan also with an expression of relief, "Easy come, easy go!" I stated as I touched my defensive card. "You're nuts!" Jonathan said as crossed his arms in detest. "Not after I eliminate your Skull!" I forcefully declared. "You bluff! Prove to me that you can take out my Summoned Skull! It's one of the most powerful fiends in the whole game!" he said a bit shaky. "Just watch," I said as I flipped my card to attack mode. "First! Its effect is activated. I remove three more cards from the top of my deck from play to inflict 800 damage your life points!" I announced as I removed Eternal Rest, De-Spell, and Attack and Receive from my deck from the duel. They too vanished. And we both watched the giant number below his name drop to 500. "And now I equip her with the Horn of the Unicorn AND my favorite equip card of them all: Sword of Deep-Seated for a total attack power boost of 1200 points, raising hers to 2700!" I yelled as he staggered a step back. "Attack the Summoned Skull!" I calmly commanded to my other pyro monster. She swept forward with impressive speed and took a huge slash at his Skull with her newly added sword of Deep-Seated. His Skull was gone, and his life points went down to 200. Completely shocked, he became furious and said, "I'm STILL in this!" and he drew his next card.

"Ooguchi, attack his life points directly _now!_" he commanded as my life points lowered to 1900. Looking closer at his card, he frantically examined his graveyard as let out another sigh of relief. "Prepare yourself," and he said my name, "for one of my rarest monsters! I remove three fiend type monsters from play to special summon Dark Necrofear (2200/2800) in face up defense mode!" he said as he removed his Gross Ghost, Flash Assailant, and Summoned Skull from play. He was a bit startled when they vanished. I have this card, but never actually got to summon it. This was the first time I was actually seeing it aside from on the holographic, goldly named card!

On the center monster space in front of him, a dark shadow concealed the entire monster zone. Slowly rising from the shrouded middle square was the one of the darkest mechanized fiends I've ever seen so far. It just stared ahead directly at me with its glowing white eyes as its body came into full view, "Definitely a fiend card," I said as I remembered its effect, "Once destroyed by anything in any position, choose one of your opponent's monsters and equip it like an equip magic card. Once equipped, you control it until the monster is destroyed. I'll bet that's a good card to use against one of those god cards I've heard so little about," I thought to myself.

"Your monsters dare not destroy it! It's the card that will bring me victory!" Jon declared.

"I'll find a way to get to your life points without destroying it!" I said as I drew one of my Karate Men. I looked at this card and just figured I'd attack his Ooguchi with my Lady. That purple dog-type thing has caused enough damage. Not caring about his loss, Jon proceeded to draw and slapped down a card in the magic/ trap zone and ended his turn.

I then drew my Fake Trap. I set it down and ended my turn.

Jonathan briefly looked at the card he drew and immediately activated from the field, "Curse of Fiend! It switches all battle positions to their opposite form. My Necrofear is switched to attack, and your Assailant is changed to defense. And I KNOW that their attack and defense numbers are equal which is why its time to bring out my second favorite equip magic card, Sword of Dark Destruction. Any dark monster equipped with this card boosts its attack by 400, bringing my Necrofear's attack up to 2600. That's more than enough to get rid of your bogus Lady Assailant of Flames. But it was fun having her around, though," he taunted as my courageous monster fell and vanished from the field after suffering a massive blow of the darkly powered sword.

I watched my Horn of the Unicorn go to the top of my deck first, since it was equipped first, and my Sword of Deep-Seated last since it was lastly equipped to her. So I drew my sword and summoned my Karate Man (1000/1000) in attack mode. "It was fun, but are you ready to lose, Mr. Conceited?" I smirked slyly as he made a dirty face at me. "Go ahead and try, idiot," he insulted as I ignored him and flipped over a magic I had face down since the beginning of the game, "De-Spell! You can kiss your pathetic Sword of Dark Destruction goodbye!" I yelled as he gasped. "Next, I equip my Karate Man with my Sword of Deep-Seated to raise his attack to 1500!" I looked at Jonathan as I spoke square in the eye. I could tell he was breaking apart, because he knew what was next. "Now I activate my monster's effect! I double the ORIGINAL attack power from 1000 to 2000, and add the extra 500 from my Sword to boost his total attack to 2500! Now… say goodbye to your Dark Necrofear AND the rest of your life points, Jonathan Greanor!" I don't know why I said his last name. Maybe I was too caught up in the moment of winning against my long time rival, "ATTACK!" I yelled to my Karate Man. With amazing speed, he lurched forward and punched the dark monster at least 15 times, rapidly, each with more force than the next until the monster could take no more and disappeared from the field.

I heroically tilted my head up to watch and hear his life points plummet to 0- I had won, finally! Looking back down at Jon, my monster and the other two face down cards I had already disappeared from the field. He was complaining, "NO! I could have easily beaten you if I had just drawn the right cards! There is absolutely NO way that you could ever defeat me in a duel! You must have cheated! That's the ONLY explanation! I WANT-" I interrupted him having heard of enough of his big mouth, "JON!" and he immediately shut up with an angry whine. "It's just a duel. And it doesn't even matter that you lose or win in these because you get nothing and lose nothing. So stop complaining, huh?"

Completely blocking himself off, he gathered up his cards, turned around, and took ten steps away from the pedestal. Instantly, he was taken out of the arena the same way he came in, in a ball of light. So I left too and next thing I knew, I was lying in the comfortable cushioned seats of the pod. The air conditioner was still blowing a light breeze of crisp air into my face, and the humming of the machine was slowing down. The female voice I heard earlier said, "Please remove dueling deck now." And as soon as she said now, a blue button lit up. I pressed it and out popped my deck- all 101 cards. I took it back and pressed the green button to my left to open the pod. It lifted up slowly just like in those space movies where the capsule door dramatically opens slowly to create suspense before you see the hideous aliens' faces.

After leaving the pod and closing the hatch, I searched for Jon after stretching my legs and arms. I saw him quickly leaving the room. The loud door opened and slammed shut just like I had remembered it. Suddenly, a calm man's voice announced, "The current time is 10:45pm. You've all got 50 minutes before this little gathering ends at 11:35," good luck!

I only saw five other duelists in the beam of light in the center of the room. One of them was in fact Steve who I remember checking his email as I left the room. "I guess he got that e-mail too!" I thought as I approached the group, which had shrunk to three. Steve and some other girl were already headed to some empty pods to duel. He didn't notice me, but that was okay. I'd just ask him how the duel went later. As the other two walked off apologetically to the girl they left behind, she spotted me and immediately asked if I wanted to duel. I accepted, and we went to the same pods I had been in…


	7. Tournament Stories part 7

Tournament Stories Part 7

Making small talk on the short walk to the pods, the girl who wanted me to call her Em, which was short for Emily began, "So! Aren't you, like, extremely mondo excited to be of the very few left on this island? It's like, totally awesome! I'm gonna get to the finals for sure because of my most powerful card backing me up!"

"Oh cool. Y'know, I've got a powerful card, too," I mentioned, trying to get used to her method of speaking.

"Well, like, DUH! If you are this far into the tournament you've _got_ to have at least **one** powerful card!" she responded with enthusiasm. Feeling stupid, I decided to let her talk, which wasn't that bad. She was mainly talking about the female cards in her deck. And, from what I caught, there were plenty.

Arriving at the pods, we began discussing the terms of the duel. This was the second duel for me, but the third duel for her. And we had both won the other ones we were in. She wanted 5000 life points, 10 minute time limit, arena of light (which gives all light monsters a 30% power bonus), and pain when life points are damaged. I wanted a 4000 life point duel, no time limit, arena of darkness (which boosts dark monsters a 30% boost) and no pain when life points were damaged.

We easily decided on a 4500 life point duel, no time limit, and normal field (giving no boosts unless changed). But we couldn't resolve the issue on whether to have life point damage hurt or not… "Well, can't we just have your side hurt, and my side not?" I suggested. "Like, WHAT? That wouldn't be fun at all! So as you lose life points, you don't get hurt? Only me? That's unfair!" she responded. "Well, I don't want to hurt you too badly," I said, realizing that she was tougher than she looked. "Listen, as long as I have a monster on the field, it won't hurt as much as a direct attack. And if you destroy a defense monster, I won't feel a thing. The same goes for you. It's not that bad. So could we, please?" she pleaded. Giving in, I accepted and we both went to a pod. I went into the red one.

After the hatch closed, I felt the air conditioning again. It felt very nice. Suddenly, out of the speakers, "I assume you know what to do?" she asked. "Sure do!" I said aloud as I took cards out and put cards in my deck, bringing its mass to 122 cards. I wanted to shorten my deck so much, but every one of them was important, it seemed. I couldn't get rid of any of them. So I put my deck in, pressed the red button, pressed the yellow button, tapped the glass to our agreements, pressed start, and in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… we were there.

I noticed that this time we were in a virtual arena like the ones that I dueled Steve, Craig, and Jen in. I decided to act chivalrous and said, "Ladies first!" "Why, like, THANK you!" Em gleefully squeaked as she drew her sixth card. That scoreboard popped up again.

"Okay. To, like, start off, I'm going to summon Hibikime (1450/1000) in attack mode, set these 2 magic/trap cards down and, like, end my turn."

I examined my hand. In it was Wall of Illusion, Labyrinth Wall, Lady Assailant of Flames, Acid Trap Hole, Castle Walls, and one of my newest trap cards: Last Turn. Figuring that Em had more powerful cards in her hand of 3, I decided to set my Wall of Illusion in defense mode, and set down my Castle Walls and Acid Trap Hole.

After she drew a card, raising her "cards in hand" counter to 4, she spoke to me, "Hmmm… Like, you didn't attack? Why?" and she paused to look at her two face down cards and giggled a bit. "Oh well. Now I'll use my Hibikime as a tribute to set a more powerful monster." And she took some time to remove her card of the field and take one card from her hand, "in defense mode," she said as she slid her card silently into the center monster card zone. "Activate trap card!" I declared. "Acid Trap Hole! I flip that set monster. If its defense is lower or equal to 2000, it's gone. If it's more, it remains on the field in face down position. So what's that card?" I questioned. She flipped it over, revealing Ancient One of the Deep Forest (1800/1900). "Like, you are SO lucky you had that down," and she said my name competitively as she placed her card in the graveyard. "Anyway, it's still my Main Phase 1. So I'll place this card face down and end my turn.

I drew my Seven Tools of the Bandit card and thought to myself, "Okay. She's got 3 cards face down with no monsters. I can set my counter trap down, and any one trap card she'd activate would be destroyed at the cost of 1000 of my life points. Alright I'll do it…" I announced, "Em! I set one card face down and summon Lady Assailant of Flames (1500/1000) in attack mode to attack your life points directly!" I said as she braced herself against the platform. I began to feel bad since this first attack of the game would be a direct one. With my command already ordered out, my pyro card held her dagger out in front of her and glared at it, igniting the metal. She rushed towards Em and made a lengthy slash down the side of her platform. Her life points lowered to 3000. Suddenly, Em began to yell. It didn't sound like it hurt that much. It's the kind of yell you'd want to make whenever you'd get a nasty leg cramp or an extremely painful stomach ache. Only this yell was longer in duration and a bit louder. Feeling guilty I asked, "Em! Are you alright over there?" Her reply was, "Like, you're joking, right? That was only a direct hit from a card with 1500 attack points! And besides, wasn't I the one who wanted the pain to be turned on?" stop feeling bad and let's continue this duel!" she demanded. "Well it's your move, Emily," I said. "Like, I know!" and she finished with a ditzy laugh.

"Okay, then. I draw one card and summon it in attack mode. Say hello to my Unfriendly Amazon (2000/1000)! Attack his Lady Assailant, please," she kindly commanded her strong, mighty female warrior card. Running forward, the energetic warrior dressed in black lifted her sword high above her head and lowered it swiftly, cutting through my assailant violently. She vanished and my life points lowered to 4000. I felt a sharp pain on my chest like what you'd feel if 5 bees were stinging it. I rapidly recovered and drew my next card after saying, "Good playing!" "Like, thanks a lot!" she replied with a wink.

My next card was Change of Heart! I couldn't believe it! My mind got excited, "If I were to use it I could gain control of her only card on the field and attack with her AND my wall. Both of their attack powers total 3000. But she's got three cards face down. She hasn't activated them so far, but that doesn't mean they aren't trap cards. Maybe she's waiting for a more dangerous situation to use them. Oh, but victory has never come easier! But then again, she said that she had some strong card in her deck. And THAT can't be it," I looked up at the amazon's face. She glared angrily at me. But Em was just smiling. I eventually made up my mind, "As tempting as it is, I won't. I'll save it for when I'm in trouble," I resolved as I said to Em, "I'm doing nothing this turn. You can go."

She drew a card, and her Amazon vanished from the field. A bit dumbfounded, I asked what had happened. Emily looked at me above her hand of three cards and told me, "I know… It's, like, my Amazon's dumb effect. Unless I offer one of my monsters as, like, a tribute during my Standby Phase, she's destroyed. What a bummer. Anyway, now I'll summon Crismon Sentry (1500/1200) in attack mode. Like, destroy his face down monster!" she commanded. The female archer lifted her bow and aimed it right towards the blinking yellow light to the far right square of my monster zone. Smoothly and calmly reaching behind her with her right hand while keeping her bow and face completely still, a flaming arrow magically appeared in her hand. Loading up the beautifully carved and carefully crafted bow with the flaming arrow, she pulled the string back quickly and let it go, taking no time to aim at all. However the arrow did hit its mark and, unfortunately for Em, she was returned to her hand due to my wall's effect, and Em lost 350 life points for the difference between my wall's defense, and the sentry's attack. "Ow!" Em yelped. "That small damage felt like a paper cut!" she said. "Sorry," I replied. "Don't be. Just make your next move, okay!" Em said to me in a bubbly voice.

My next card was Soul Release. There was a total of five cards in our graveyards combined, but not in either of our separate graveyards. So I didn't play it. I didn't do anything this turn, either and Em boosted her hand to four cards.

Looking a bit nervous, Emily took one card from her hand and summoned it to the field. "It's, like, time for my absolute grossest creature, Jirai Gumo (2200/100) to make an appearance in attack mode!" she said with grimace. "Ha, okay. Like, and NOW I'm gonna use one of my face down cards Change of Heart! Looks like your field is all open for some massive damage!" she smiled as my wall instantly appeared on her side of the field. My heart suddenly began racing I was going to be directly damaged for 3200 points with no trap cards to stop their attacks. Thankfully it wouldn't be all 3200 at once. But I was pretty nervous about the Jirai Gumo's attack. I felt my heart skip a beat with all this terror looming overhead. "Like, I can tell that you are terrified. So I'll get Jirai Gumo's over with first. But oh yeah, his effect. COIN!" Em called forth the coin and said, "Start flip, call- heads." I was getting more and more apprehensive as the coin swirled in mid-air, but not for the coin toss, but whether 2200 points of direct damage would hurt extremely bad or not. As the coin slowed down, she actually looked pretty anxious too. Then suddenly, it fell to the floor with the tails side up. "NO! I lose half my life points now!" Em yelled as the rapid beep beep beep beep beep BEEP brought her life points down the 1325- an odd number for life points. She yelled just like she had before with the 1500 attack, only less loudly. "Oh well, looks like it's time for yours now!" she briefly said. After putting her Change of Heart Card in her graveyard, she commanded, "Jirai Gumo! Attack his life points directly!"

I watched, horrified, as the huge spider made his way to my platform. He used his gigantic fangs and claws to violently shake my platform and pierce its hull, I guess you could call it. After that not so impressive display of an attack, my life points went from 4000 to 1800! And as that was happening, an intense feeling of pain shot all throughout my body. It felt just like a million shots you get from the doctor all at once. When it was over, I put all my weight on my arms, which were resting on my dueling platform. Pushing myself back up I wondered how this pain could be made possible. Seeing I was recovered, Em ordered my Wall of Illusion to attack me. I figured that the pain would not be worse than a stomach ache, so I relaxed a bit. But who wouldn't be even a little bit nervous if they saw a giant sphere of darkness, aimed right at them, being formed and ready for launch?

"Attack!" she yelled and the ball of shadow flew in my direction so fast, that I didn't even know it hit me until my life points sank to 800 and I felt something similar to getting a headache, only in the chest region. It was weird.

"Okay, my turn is over. So you get your wall back now. It's your move. I hope you've got something special planned!" Em taunted as I drew a card, making my hand a total of five. It was my Man-Eater Bug! I studied my hand. It had Soul Release, Man-Eater Bug, Change of Heart, and both Labyrinth Wall and Last Turn from the beginning of the duel. I could have easily won the duel by using Change of Heart and attacking her directly with her own monster, but I didn't want to be cruel. So I did use Change of Heart, but only in a more strategic way. "First, I set this one magic/trap card face down and activate Change of Heart to take control of your Jirai Gumo!" I said as I slid my Last Turn next to my Seven Tools of the Bandit (which was now useless) and watched her ugly spider teleport to my side of the field. "No! Now I'm wide open for an attack!" she yelled, "Please don't attack me! I'm undefeated so far today. This is my third duel tonight and I've won the other two!" she became very panic-stricken and looked at me with a scared face. I replied, "Calm down. I'm now using your monster to set a more powerful monster and ending my turn. I had no intention of attacking you," as I put my Labyrinth Wall in defense mode. She was upset about losing a powerful monster like Jirai Gumo, but was more relieved than anything that her flawless record this night stayed that way for the time being. "So it's your turn now," I said calmly.

She drew her next card and accidentally whispered it aloud. I could barely hear her, but I think she said, "…Magic Jammer?" Looking up at me with her eyes wide open as part of that 'OOPS!' look, she yelled to me, "You didn't hear that!" I smirked and said, "Didn't hear what?" "Okay, good," she said back as she put a card on the field. "Monster Reborn! I'm bringing back my Unfriendly Amazon (2000/1000) in attack mode. And I also summon my Crimson Sentry (1500/1200) again in attack mode as well. But before I attack, I'm setting down this one magic/trap card. Now I'll have my amazon attack your Wall of Illusion! It's got more than enough attack points to take it out!" She said as her amazon rushed forward and slashed at the wall, destroying it. And as a result, her card was returned to her hand. "Your move," she said and smiled.

I drew my Summoned Skull, surprisingly. I even jerked my head back in shock as soon as I laid eyes on his picture. I needed a tribute monster in order to summon it. But the only monster I had on the field was the Labyrinth Wall (0/3000) that I had just put there. I was hoping she would have attacked that card instead of my other wall. But I figured this was my chance to corner her. I don't even know why she put her Crimson Sentry in attack mode! "Okay, Em. I'm sacrificing my Labyrinth Wall to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200) in attack mode!" and I watched her face explode with surprise. The monster square second from the left glowed a dark hazy purple as my fiend monster rose up from the arena. Its evil green eyes were already glaring at his future target. Em's Crimson Sentry lowered her eyebrows and toughened her mouth. "Now attack the Crimson Sentry!" I ordered as my monster obediently stretched his arms out toward the ground and gathered up electricity all throughout his body. And with a mighty yell, he released all of his bright blue electrifying power towards the Crimson Sentry, who fought its massive force, but ultimately gave in and vanished from the field, resulting in Em losing 1000 of her life points.

"Darn it! 325 life points? That's, like, such a low number! I don't know how I'm ever going to win NOW!" she complained as she drew a card. "Ugh, I'll try anything," she said. "I play Graceful Charity which lets me draw three cards from my deck, and discard two." So she took three cards from her deck and easily discarded two to her graveyard. "Hmm… Okay…" she began with a relieved smile on her face. But the way she was speaking made even me uneasy. "I activate the magic card Chosen One! I select one monster card from my hand and two non-monster cards and show them to you face down…" she began as she took all three cards in her hand and put them face up on her special side of the field. The image reading cameras took in three face down cards and displayed three gigantic cards with their backs turned to me. In the center of the triangle of three cards was a short, wooden, ancient-looking cylinder with a pretty interesting face on it. "All you have to do is pick one, but not to keep. If you pick the monster card, it is immediately special summoned on my side of the field in face up attack or defense, and the rest of the cards go to the graveyard. If you pick either of the two other cards, though, no monster is summoned and all three cards go to the graveyard. That will leave my field wide open for an attack… Tell me," and she said my name slyly, "do you like games of chance?" She paused for a second and yelled competitively, "Like, choose!" and the cylinder began to spin at an incredibly fast rate. And just then, those familiar yellow squares lit up below my magic/trap zone. I quickly calculated that the odds of me choosing the monster was exactly 1/3 or 33%, so I wasn't too worried. But it occurred to me that this monster must be either a ritual monster, fusion monster, or high-leveled monster if she couldn't just simply summon or set it. So I began to feel reluctant to pick. Stressed out, I pushed the space on the left and the cylinder immediately began to slow down. "Let's, like, see which card you chose for me! Will it be the, ha ha, CHOSEN ONE? A HA HA HA HA!" she completely lost control and laughed hysterically at her own joke. I shuddered and watched the cylinder stop. It opened its mouth, causing the other two cards to vanish and revealed the "chosen one."

The red illuminated on her side of the field under her monster card! Only monster wasn't really the word for it… "Yes! Now I can bring forth my most powerful monster," her voice temporarily droned into the back seat of my head as I thought, "MOST powerful monster, huh?" I looked at my face down Last Turn as her voice returned, "Wingweaver (2750/2400) in attack mode!" she heroically announced. "Must be a fairy card…" I said to myself.

An intense beam of light shot up from her center monster zone accompanied by feathers, quick wind, and soft angelic chanting. The chanting echoed throughout the arena as a beautiful fairy was released from the light that made me sneeze and squint. And I couldn't get my hair out of my face with the wind. My Summoned Skull had to use both of his arms to block out the light. The feathers gathered around her and suddenly dispersed as the light tapered away, leaving only her with her six wings, completely white. The soothing chanting died down as the feathers disappeared. It was quite a pretty dramatic entrance.

"And finally I can take control of this duel! Wingweaver, attack his Summoned Skull!" Em commanded as she violently pointed at me. Her Wingweaver opened her eyes sternly and began to call forth a mystic ball of light above her head. "I'm sorry, Em. But I'm activating this trap card," "Trap Hole won't work! This was a special summon, remember?" Em interrupted me. "It's not Trap Hole. This is much worse. It's called Last Turn. I select one of my monsters. Obviously, I pick my skull. Next, we both must destroy ALL CARDS on the field and in our hands, but my Summoned Skull is not," Em replied, "NO! It can't be! My poor Wingweaver didn't even get to attack! You'll pay for this!" as she and I both but the necessary cards in our graveyards. "But wait, there's lots more. You get to special summon a monster from your deck in face up attack mode," I said. She fingered through her deck and summoned Launcher Spider (2200/2500) with a grunt. "And now your monster attacks my monster. Any battle damage is treated as 0. BUT! The person whose monster is left standing wins the duel." I finished summarizing the card as Em sobbed only a little and said, "Attack, Launcher Spider with your missles…" The mechanized spider launched a barrage of its powerful explosives, but my Summoned Skull withstood them and struck back with an electric attack, shorting out and destroying her monster. I had won the duel, but not easily. My lone monster slowly disappeared and all was quiet.

"You deserve to have made it this far in the tournament, Em. In fact, I believe you are better off than many of the other duelists on this whole island! Uh… Em? You okay? Last Turn makes the resulting battle damage zero, so you shouldn't have gotten hurt," I said as she just stared down at her cards. She wasn't crying or anything, just dazed, it appeared. "No, I'm fine," she replied, recovering to a half smile, "I'm just, like, amazed that I lost my last duel of the day when I was undefeated all day. It's kind of ironic, right?" she smirked as she gathered up her cards. That seemed pointless to me seeing as how this is all virtual and her real deck is in a neat pile back in the pod, but I let her be and asked, "Who have you beaten today?" out of curiosity. "Well, I beat my prelimaries no problem, but here I beat a guy dressed in black named Steve and some blowhard named Jonathan." Just then, my head felt like someone had tickled it with a feather as I held back a laugh and felt this weird slippery sensation in my brain. "Are you serious!" I said more than asked. "Cuz I beat Steve during a practice duel, and I beat Jonathan about fifteen minutes ago in these very pods!" I exclaimed. "Jonathan Greanor?" Em asked in surprise. "Wow, and he was bragging about placing first in his school's tournament… now THAT'S ironic!" she said as we both shared a laugh. "Let's go back. I want to get to know the real life you better." "Same here! Talk to you in a few minutes!" Em saluted me and we both took ten steps behind us…


	8. Tournament Stories part 8

Tournament Stories part 8

Outside of those comfortably cool pods, Em and I met and instantly began talking in that kind of muggy room. It still smelled like cigars, and the loudly slamming door completely woke me up. The square-shaped light beating down on us was making it even worse. "So (my name), you're, like, a strong duelist. And you're saying that you lost against Jonathan in the final battle in your school's tournament? That is such a bummer! Like, how many duelists took part in that competition, anyway?" she asked as she looked at her deck she was sorting through. She dropped a card and I offered to pick it up. She said yes and I bent down. I thought about looking at it, but since she didn't know what card fell either, she may not want me to look at the card for the chance of it being a rare one that she chooses not to play until the later rounds. Temporarily discontinuing our conversation, she said, "You can look at. Go ahead."

So I turned it over preparing myself for some shiny image and gold lettering. Well, I was right about the shiny image, but the lettering was plain white. It was an equip magic card that I used to own called Black Pendant. (I lost the card in a duel against one of my brother's friends. And it sucks, too, because had he not drew that one card he needed, I would have killed him. See, he had Messenger of Peace out. With that card out, he had to pay 100 life points at each of his Standby Phases in order to prevent cards with 1500 or more attack points from attacking. And I had my Cannon Soldier (1400/1300) out along with three or four other monsters. He had 600 life points, I had a lot more. But his Catapult Turtle pretty much had rule over the game for most of it, but I kept alive a lot, ha ha ha. Anyway, his Standby Phase passed, and he had 500 life points. But he played a damn De-Spell card to eliminate the Messeger of Peace and attacked my Cannon Soldier with some high leveled monster, and then launched him with his turtle to finish me off. ARGH! And on my next turn, all I'd have to do is sacrifice one monster for my Cannon Soldier's effect to damage him for the rest of his life points. Oh, I hated that. But it was the most competitive duel I had ever taken part in. And so, he won my Black Pendant which, by the way, boosts any monster's attack by 500. And once it's sent to the graveyard, your opponent suffers 500 points of direct damage. True story!) I was startled out of my reminiscing when Em said, "(my name)! Can I have it back now?"

"Oh, sure. Sorry, I was just recalling some past memory having to do with that card," I replied a bit embarrassed.

"You mean my Black Pendant? Yeah, I got it in a booster pack- can't remember which one, though. But anyway. You didn't answer my question. How many duelists participated in your school's competition?" she asked as she stuffed her deck into her overalls' pocket.

Struggling to remember, I gave her an answer that would sound right to both of us, "I think there were 64."

"Wow! And so that makes you, like, the second best duelist in your school?" she bubbly replied.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that. There were plenty of duelists in the school that DIDN'T compete either because they thought that their deck was too weak, or that they would get embarrassed if some of their friends saw them dueling with cards. You may not believe it, but most of the kids in my school think that these cards are for little kids… I'm beginning to think that they're right," I trailed off as I stared ahead at the door, which hadn't opened for a long time. I figured it was close to 11:35. She looked at me with a disappointed look on her face.

"But Em!" I cheerfully said a bit loudly. My voice bounced off the walls, "That Wingweaver card of yours is pretty strong. I never knew that a fairy card could be that strong! Is it your favorite?" I asked.

"Yeah, fairies tend to be the weaker type of card in the whole game. But sure, they get powerful. Have you ever heard of Soul of Purity and Light?" she asked me as she took out her deck again in search of it.

"No, but it sounds like a magic card. What's it-" I was suddenly interrupted.

"WHAT! Like, Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800) is another powerful fairy card that, as long as it is face up on the field, lowers the attack of all your opponent's monsters by 300 during each of their battle phases!" she said as she took the card out of her deck and showed me. "But yeah, Wingweaver is my favorite monster card." She finished as the loudspeaker clicked on.

"The time is 11:35, everyone! It's time to go back to your hotels. Go through the door that you entered through and return to your rooms," the announcer finished as the hatches all simultaneously opened themselves. Many angry groans could be heard from half of the duelists emerging from the pods. I listened to one comment in particular, "And I was about to make my comeback, you lucky…" and that's all I could make out as the two girls walked towards the same door that Em was facing. "Well, this is where we say goodbye, (my name). Maybe we'll duel for real in the tournament later, hmm?"

"Yeah, maybe. See ya!" I saw her off as I slowly turned around toward the door I came through, just then realizing that the boys and girls came through different doors from their different hotels.

I closed that loud door behind me and headed up the stairs. I knocked on my room's door and was surprised to find that everyone was still awake, even Steev who I had noticed in the special duels earlier. Remembering this, I said, "Hey! I saw you in those duels, Steve. How'd you do?" I asked, knowing that he had lost at least one- to Em.

"You- you were there too? I never noticed you. But anyway, yeah. I did good. I won two out of the three I played. And yourself?" he replied in a semi-surprised voice.

"I only got two in. And out of them, I won them both," I said as the room became noticeably quieter. Only the sounds of Jack and Mike shuffling each other's deck and one of the computer's soft hums could be heard over my thinking. Breaking the silence, I said, "How many duels have you had so far, you two?" I asked Mike and Jack who looked more tired than I did.

"This is still the same match we were having when you left- only the third duel. See, Mike and I are having a duel that's true to the original rules. 8000 life points, a main phase 2, everything!" Jack responded as he asked ME a question this time, "So how about another clue to your favorite card?" he asked me as I glanced up at Doug who was still making adjustments to his deck -STILL!

"Okay, Jack. First tell me what you know," I said to him because I had forgotten what I had told him already.

"You've told me that it has 1700 attack points, it has the letter o in its name, and it's NOT a dragon type," Jack said with a sarcastic tone.

I answered, "Okay," and I noticed everyone was watching me now, "it's attribute ISN'T wind or earth!"

"Hmmm…." I could all hear everybody say at once. "Okay, that'll do for now, (my name)," Jack responded as he half-minded gave Mike's deck back to him. I walked over to my bunk, climbed the ladder, and lay down watching their third duel until I drifted off to sleep. It was quite a day. And I made extra sure that my deck was protected- even from my friends.

The next morning, I rose earlier than everyone. (Mainly because I went to sleep earlier than everyone.) As I descended the ladder, my left foot slipped and nearly whacked Mike in the stomach. Luckily, there was that metal rung there, which hurt my shin real bad… So I dropped down and pulled up my pant leg just so I could see if it would bruise. Oh yes… it would. But anyway, I took my deck from out of the pack, that I got from those two people, which I hid beneath my pillow, and looked around to see if my stumbling had woken anyone up. Steve was sitting up and began to yawn heavily. He acknowledged me and wearily nodded. I slipped on my duel disc system, which made me look kinda cool, and headed out the door and made my way to the lobby where an amazing number of people were.

As I drifted in and out of sleep and crowds, I overheard different conversations like, "WHY is there such a huge hotel on a such a small island only for this tourna-", "Oh my god! I left my dueling deck in the room! Do you think I have enough ti-", and "I am definitely going home today. I shouldn't even be here because-" and I just plodded around not really searching for anyone that I've met so far, but mainly just waiting for another announcement from that guy or the short lady…

And just as the other four were coming down the stairs, the lights dimmed and the receptionist said, "Okay! All duelists are in the lobby…" The one boy I had listened to earlier said, "Crap, now I can't get my deck!"

A screen, hazy with muted static lowered itself slowly and ominously. I heard sarcastic snores and even a "Boo, this movie rots!" But paying attention only to the screen still lowering, I didn't notice my friends surrounding me until Mike sneezed at the exact same moment that a burst of static sound shook the room and then went silent showing everyone a dark figure sitting in a chair, with two guards at his side.

He spoke, "All my fine duelists! All 256 of you have survived your two trial rounds at the preliminaries. And a select few of you, last night, got the unique opportunity to get a better feel for dueling others out there with special duels in virtual arenas. I am most pleased with everyone's progress and anticipate seeing quite exciting duels in the future; I monitor them all, you know. So here's to another day of friendly dueling at the Gree Island tournament! And here are the match-ups for your next duel!" Just then, the screen zoomed in on a massive tournament chart. It closed in on the first two pairs and slowly scrolled to the left, showing peoples faces who would be dueling each other. "Have fun out there! And don't forget that these are the real tournaments now! Many rules that weren't in the preliminaries are now active. And certain ridiculous rules that I put in the preliminaries are now gone. And to relieve some stress- I've been getting an overwhelming number of reports that surrendering two cards to the winner of a duel is… "unfair." So I've made an alteration to that subject. Instead of giving the victor a monster card with 2000 attack points or more AND a magic card of the winner's choice, I've decided to let the winner of each duel decide if he or she wants a monster card OR a magic/trap card. And it doesn't… HAVE to be rare... (mumble, mumble) But the winner chooses and does not touch their opponent's cards until he or she has made up their mind. That was another issue brought up that someone robbed someone of two cards yesterday- very unpleasing. Needless to say, he has been dealt with. Anyway! It's time to duel- show them what you're made of!" and with that, the tournament match-ups continued trudging along the screen for two or three more times until I finally saw my picture paired up with someone else's.

I overheard someone say outloud, "This is bogus! We've got duel disc systems! We should be able to duel whoever we want, WHENever we want! But no, we're getting assigned opponents… Does anybody else see anything wrong with this?" and with that, a huge mass of people gathered around him in agreement excluding me and one of his friends who said less loudly, "You're just afraid to duel me!" I got a laugh out of that. I looked up at the screen again to notice my opponent's face just disappear, "I know it was a guy with brown hair, but that's it," I said to myself.

Suddenly, I heard an intrusive cough, though not entirely rude. I turned around to notice that it was definitely the guy I'm supposed to be dueling. "Looks like you and I are in it to the end, pal," he said with a friendly smirk.

"Yeah, looks that way," I politely responded, not really expecting to be called "pal" before I even knew his name.

"I'm Justin. Who are you?"

"(my name), good to meet you. Ready to duel?" I responded, tightening my grip on my duel disc.

"Eh, not yet. First I have to get my cards from my room!"

It was pretty funny that he was the same guy I was kind of eavesdropping on since I arrived in the lobby. And as he rushed up the stairs, the lights turned on, and the screen turned off and rose back up. Turning around to face the outside, I noticed Jack and Steve still standing there, talking to one another.

"Oh no! You guys aren't dueling each other, are you?!??" I assumed in horror.

"A ha ha ha! You fool, no! We're just talking about strategies. Look, my opponent is right there. He just had to go to the bathroom first!" Jack said as he pointed to some blonde haired guy who looked too simple to understand what even attack mode was. But that was none of my business.

"What about you, Steve?" I asked.

"I dunno… maybe he's already out there waiting for ME. Cuz everyone else already found their opponent. Hmm… Anyway, I'll talk to you later. Bye!" he turned and walked off as I heard Justin returning from his room. "Alright, I'm ready! Let's duel!" and we were pretty silent until we found a cleared out wooded area (probably on purpose) to duel in.

I flicked mine on, and it instantly booted itself up. I instinctively raised my arm to make it more dramatic. The holographic emitters burst from my machine and rested on the ground, ready to shape monsters. And the monster card zone clanged together and glowed with readiness, Justin's too. We drew five cards and began.

"I always let my opponent go first!" Justin announced. We were pretty far away, it seemed. So I drew a sixth card:

My first hand was Bait Doll, Waboku, Forced Requisition, Cannon Soldier, Cyber Jar, and Dragon Zombie. Not too bad!

"Alright! For my first move, I'll place these two cards face down on the field along with Dragon Zombie (1600/0) in attack mode!" I said loudly as my metal monster zone seemed to shine brightly as my emitters conjured up my zombie card instantly. "And that will do it for me!" I said to Justin as he drew a card.

"Hmmm… Interesting," he said aloud. "I don't think you're going to like this, (my name)! I start off by playing Spiritualism! It lets me return one magic/trap card to your hand. And its activation and effect cannot be negated by any other card!" He declared as three evil looking spirits rose up from his center magic zone. They swirled around each other in a terrifyingly taunting dance of insane laughs. "And I think I'll return the card to you left to your hand!" he announced as the skull shaped spirits rushed forward and absorbed into my card. It was my Forced Requisition which, thankfully, I never needed on the field anyway, for now. "To make this duel further interesting, I'll play one of my favorite magic cards, Convulsion of Nature! It's effect requires us to turn our decks upside down so we both know what each other is going to draw next! Pretty cool, huh?" he smirked.

I sarcastically (as I always do) replied, "Isn't that kind of a drawback than a bonus, Justin?"

Ignoring what I said, he continued his turn, "And I'll put my Bistro Butcher (1800/1000) in attack mode and attack your Dragon Zombie!" That maniacally messed up kitchen cook slowly rose up from his middle monster square and zipped forward, wielding his sharp and dangerous… hook? Which was used to slice my Dragon Zombie into ribbons. I didn't decide to activate my Waboku because it was only 200 life points, and the butcher's effect would allow me to draw more cards, anyway.

So I drew three cards to start off my next turn, thanks to Justin. But also, thanks to Justin, he knew what each and every one of them was: Mask of Darkness, Swordstalker, and The Dark Door. He even saw what card I would draw next thanks to my deck being upside down already, it was my Opticlops. I looked over to his side of the field to his left to see a giant holographic image of the card that he would draw next, too: Prohibition. But before I could do anything, I had to get rid of one of the cards in my hand to bring my total to six. So I carefully considered each card and its usefulness and discarded my Mask of Darkness that I just drew. "And now, to make my move, I'm setting one card in defense mode, and placing one card face down on the field," I said, putting my Forced Requisition back where it was and setting my Cyber Jar, ready to draw more cards.

"My turn, now," Justin stated as he drew his Phohibition. The holographic image showed his finger taking the card off of his deck and revealed a Trap Master beneath it. But sure enough, he used Prohibition since he could see the cards I just drew AND the card I'm about to draw next turn. "I play the continuous magic card Prohibition. As long as it's face up, the name of one card I state canNOT be played on the field. So I say that Opticlops can't be played! Another great move made by me. And to finish, I'll attack your defense monster with my Harpie's Brother (1800/600)! Make that card a memory!" he commanded his wined beast. With blazing speed (as stated on the card itself) it quickly delivered a devastating blow to, "My Cyber Jar (900/900) has been activated! I'm sure you know its effect, right? All monsters on the field are destroyed," I said as the monsters took turns exploding off the field. "Next we take the tope five cards from our decks," I recited as we each took the top five, "And show them to each other… not that we wouldn't have known what they were, anyway…" 

I drew Opticlops (level 4), Soul Exchange, Malevolent Nuzzler, Shadow of Eyes, and Magician of Faith (level 1).

Justin drew Trap Master (level 3), Cold Wave, Rain of Mercy, Mushroom Man #2 (level 3), and Curse of Dragon (level 5).

"Now all monsters of level 4 or lower go on the field in either face up attack, or face down defense position. Since I can't play my Opticlops, I'm putting my Magician of Faith (300/400) in face down defense mode," I said as my hand suddenly became crowded with useful cards.

"I'm putting my Trap Master (500/1100) in defense mode and my Mushroom Man #2 (1250/800) in attack mode. And it's still my battle phase! But I'm not attacking. Though I WILL send my Mushroom Man #2 over to your side of the field at the cost of 500 life points, just so I can damage you a bit more. That card's special effect makes its controller during the Standby Phase lose 300 life points. And at your end phase, you can pay 500 life points to send it over to your opponent, like I just did. Well now, my turn is over!" And with that, the Mushroom Man teleported itself onto my side of the field.

I drew my favorite magic card, to my surprise: Tribute to the Doomed! Justin only saw the card under it, Trap Master, because of all the excitement and he forgot to look. But first, I had to shrink my hand back down to six cards from the nine that I had. I then got an idea.

"Before I can be damaged those 300 life points, I have to make my hand total six again," I declared as I prepared to discard my Opticlops. I shoved it into the little hole designated for the graveyard and activated a trap card, "Forced Requisition! It's activated when I discard a card from my hand whether I need to or not. So from now on, whenever I discard from my hand, you must discard the same number!" So I watched his face turn surprised when I took two more cards from my hand, Shadow of Eyes and The Dark Door and slammed them in the graveyard and said, "Discard two cards from your hand, Justin." I watched a confused look come over him. He mumbled to himself, "What can I get rid of?? ….RGGGH! Fine, I'm discarding my Cold Wave and my Seiyaryu (2500/2300). You messed up my plan!" he angrily obeyed.

"Whoa!" I thought, "Seiyaryu?? That's a pretty rare card, so I'm told."

"Anyway, now it's my standby phase," as soon as I said that, the card I received from Justin turned to face me, and its red eyes glowed eerily. I lost 300 life points, evening our scores: 3500 to 3500- but not for long! "To start, I'll get rid of your Mushroom Man by Sacrificing him to summon my Swordstalker (2000/1600)! Next, I'm activating Tribute to the Doomed to send that face down card to the graveyard," I calmly said, knowing it was a Trap Master as I discarded my Cannon Soldier, figuring that I wouldn't have monsters on the field long enough for me to use it.

"Ha! Now my Trap Master can use its ability. I can destroy one of your trap cards. So it's lights out for your Forced Requisition!" he laughed as I continued my move, "Next I'll flip over my Magician of Faith and activate its effect to bring back one magic card in the graveyard to my hand!" "Aw, noooo!" Justin shouted pretty loudly as I took my favorite magic card out of the graveyard. "And to finish my turn, I equip my Swordstalker with Malevolent Nuzzler which raises its attack by 700 to bring it to 2700! Finally, I attack you directly!" I smoothly stated.

"Yowch…" Justin weakly said as he saw my warrior getting closer and closer closing in on him. He raised both his arms in front of him in preparation for this to hurt real bad, but it didn't, as I found out when he just stood there, flinching, after the attack was long since over. "Um… you can stop now. You've got 800 life points and its your move," I felt pretty smug with my 3500 life points entirely intact by one defense monster and one souped up attack monster. But Justin wasn't giving up without a fight. I wouldn't want it any other way, really. (Not that I'm THAT good of a duelist to be talking like that…)

He drew a Change of Heart, and I got nervous. And he used the result pretty well, too. "I'm activating Change of Heart! For one turn I can control one of your monsters. I'm definitely taking over your Swordstalker!" he said as a figure that looked part angel, part demon materialized on the field. She opened her eyes and angrily glared at my Swordstalker. She lifted off the ground and dove right onto my warrior, using some magical darkness and light together to carry it over to his side, then she disappeared. "Now, I'll use Rain of Mercy to replenish our life points by 1000," he said as white clouds appeared over us. Light droplets of rain gracefully landed on each side of the field, increasing both of our life points by 1000. I didn't know what he was up to. "Next, I'm using your Swordstalker as a tribute monster to call forth my Curse of Dragon (2000/1500) in attack mode! After that, I'll play a very special magic card called Dragon's Gunfire! It's a magic card designed ONLY for dragon cards. With it, I can choose to either damage your life points by 800 OR instantly destroy one face up monster on your side of the field with defense points equal to or lower than 800! So I'm getting rid of your Magician of Faith to clear the way for a direct attack from my dragon!" Justin said with glee as a great fire ball began to grow larger at its mouth, aimed right for my spellcaster. It suddenly was unleashed and incinerated my monster. "Now attack!" Justin commanded. However, I had Waboku lying in wait, "I activate the trap card Waboku! It protects my life points from any kind of attack during this turn only. So sorry, Justin. You were very close, though!" I said as I glanced to my right, noticing his next card to be drawn: Monster Reborn. I felt nervous again.,

I drew my Trap Master like we knew I would and thought about what to do about Justin's Monster Reborn. I noticed that I still had a Soul Exchange in my hand, but that's only good if I've got a high leveled monster. I looked at my next card and saw it was one of my new cards, Penguin Soldier. Its effect would come in handy, but I can't just return cards to his hand and expect to win. However, he has no idea whether my Bait Doll I actually a trap or magic card, so if I were to set it down, he may be detered from attacking right away… "Alright, Justin. I'm putting two cards face down and activating Tribute to the Doomed once again. I discard one card from my hand to destroy your Curse of Dragon. And I'm ending my turn like that," I boldy said. And with no cards in my hand, I relaxed my arms and let them lay at my side for a while.

I watched him draw his Monster Reborn, revealing a Soul Release.

"The only thing I can do is play Monster Reborn. But… which monster should I revive…?" his voice trailed off as he flipped through his graveyard. Suddenly, his face lit up and twisted into a fiendish grin. I'm bringing back my Seiyaryu (2500/2300) in attack mode!" he yelled at the near top of his lungs. "Holy crap!" I exclaimed as this lengendary card burst up in front of. Its wings glittered as it flew high into the air, showed itself off and landed in front of Justin, ready to show its might. "You better pray those are trap cards you've got down, (my name). Seiyaryu! Attack his life points directly NOW!" Justin yelled to his dragon as it lifted itself slightly off the ground as pointed its enormous mouth at me. It opened its mouth and breathed in slowly, making sure this would be an experience I wouldn't soon forget. A blazing ball of electricity gathered inside and remained motionless as it collected the last bit of its power and was suddenly let go. 

Things seemed to occur in slow motion just then as the ball of lightning made its way right toward me. I put my forearms up to make a little barrier, out of instinct, though I knew it wouldn't hurt. So I watched it collide with me and heard the rapid beep beep beep beep beep BEEP return to decrease my life points to 2000. In that instant, I was now only winning by 200 life points. What a turn of events…

I drew my Penguin Soldier (750/500) and immediately set it in defense mode, hoping Justin would attack it because my next card would be Dian Keto the Cure Master. I angrily looked at that Convulsion of Nature card that caused me so much happiness and yet so much irritation. I was glad I took it out of my deck back in the hotel room, as well as many others to further reduce my deck size to 91 cards.

Justin drew his Soul Release and asked to see my graveyard. "ALL the cards?" I responded. "No. No, just the monsters." He replied as I held the cards up high, hoping he could see them. There was no extra card zone like in those arenas… "Alright. I'm removing Mask of Darkness, Swordstalker, Magician of Faith, Cannon Soldier, and Trap Master from play," Justin said.

"Fine by me!" I said. "CRAP!" I thought.

So he didn't attack, to my relief. And also to my relief, his next card was a Last Will. I drew my Dian Keto and immediately activated it, bringing my life points up to 3000, still not believing what a powerful hit I had taken. My next card was Island Turtle. Things always get interesting when that card is around. I realized that just then. And couldn't wait to draw it.

Justin took the Last Will off the top of his deck and smiled at the card beneath it, a De-Spell. Finally! It's so frustrating to know what card you and your opponent are going to draw next. So he set down the card and signaled it to be my turn. I drew my Island Turtle to expose my Harpie's Brother beneath it. I then decided to shake things up a bit and activated my Bait Doll card that I placed face down a long while ago. I knew it wouldn't destroy anything, but I love to shuffle my deck!

"I'll activate Bait Doll now," I began. "What's a Bait Doll do?" Justin asked as he laughed at the card's art. "It lets me force the activation of one face down card in your magic/trap zone. And, basically, if the trap card I activated is activated at a time no suitable for it to be activated, then it's effects are negated and the card is destroyed. But if the card I choose isn't a trap, like your Last Will that I will be flipping over, nothing happens and it goes back face down. Then, after I activate this card, it goes back in my DECK, and I shuffle it," I explained as he tilted his head back in understanding. So nothing happened, and I got to shuffle my deck. Of course, I couldn't look at what would appear on top, so I had to turn it over again. Then after I felt it was sufficiently re-randomized, I flipped my deck over to see my Horn of the Unicorn. But then it was Justin's turn and he activated De-Spell to flip our decks back over- thank goodness.

So I drew… Princess of Tsurugi but set my Island Turtle instead. I still had Soul Exchange face down.

Justin drew a card and immediately set it in defense mode and ended his turn with a small smile. I wondered if he was bluffing that it was a good card or not. But I decided to take my turn.

I drew Just Desserts. It's quite the useful trap card when you're cornered. I instantly set it down and ended my turn.

I let out a tired yawn as Justin finished thinking over his move, almost certain that it would work for him. "Alright, I'll set this magic/trap card face down and flip over MY Cyber Jar. It worked so well for me the last time, there's always room for another!" So all the monsters were destroyed, we each took the top 5, showed them to each other. I got Enchanted Javelin, Labyrinth Wall (level 5), Big Eye (level 4), Polymerization (I got it in the Joey starter deck), and Sword of Deep-Seated. I set my Big Eye (1200/1000). He got Gaia the Fierce Knight (level 7), Cave Dragon (level 4), Salamandra, Dragon Treasure, and Rising Air Current. He summoned his Cave Dragon (2000/100). "Since he can't attack with no other dragon type card on my side of the field, I'll just go to my Main Phase 2 and equip him with Dragon Treasure, increasing his attack to 2300. Also, I'll play this field card, Rising Air Current, which raises any wind attribute monster's attack by 500! That means my cave dragon now has 2800 attack points! Your move!" Justin said.

I don't know why, but I was beginning to find this duel very boring. "I thought that the actual tournaments would be more difficult than just a regular duel!" I thought to myself as I drew my Man-Eater Bug. "I'm activating a trap! Light of Intervention! From this point on, as long as this is face up, no monster can be played face down. That includes the monster you've already got face down, flip it over!" Justin felt pretty proud of himself. "Fine, I'll flip over my Big Eye and activate its effect. I get to see the top five cards in my deck and arrange them however I want," so I took the top 5 which were Tornado Bird (now useless because of his trap card), Gearfried the Iron Knight, my other Waboku, Sword of Dark Destruction, and my Monster Reborn. I put them in some order and continued my turn. "I'll now sacrifice my Big Eye to set my Labyrinth Wall (0/3000) in face up defense mode. Now I'm safe from you, for now…" I trailed off as I wondered why Justin was grinning at the card he drew.

"Oh, I'll just set this magic/trap card down and end my turn," Justin said.

I drew my Monster Reborn and looked at Justin, "Are you ready for this? Monster Reborn! And guess which card I'm reviving! Seiyaryu!" Once again, the scintillating dragon emerged from the depths of the duel disc's memory and onto the field, ready for battle. "And now I'll equip him with my Sword of Deep-Seated, increasing his attack to 3000! And I still can normal summon a monster, so here comes Princess of Tsurugi (900/700) in attack mode. And she gets a 500 point attack power boost thanks to your field card, Justin. Seiyaryu! Eliminate his Cave Dragon!" And just as before a bright ball of lightning collected before the mighty dragon's mouth and he let it fly with uncontrollable force. It make quick work of the Cave Dragon and reduced his life points to 1600. "Next, I'll have my other card attack you directly, too!" "Not until after I activate this trap card. It's called Graverobber's Retribution. And during everyone of my standby phases, YOU lose 100 life points for every monster you've got removed from play! …Uh, now you can attack. And so after a brief slash with her icicle knives, my Princess of Tsurugi brought his life points down to a measly 200.

Justin drew a card and looked rather disappointed. Even though my life points decreased to 2500 after an impressive display of spirits flying right through me, he looked at me with hopeful eyes. "I play Graceful Charity. I draw three cards from my deck and discard two. I noticed he discarded Gaia the Fierce Knight, but couldn't see the other one, "Okay. This is probably the least honorable move I've made in my entire dueling career. But here I go. First, I'm playing Dark Hole, and destroying all monsters on the field," he started as an unbelievably huge circle of darkness replaced the grass that we were dueling on. All three of the monsters I had on the field instantly vanished and I was wide open for anything- almost. "And now I'm summoning Darkfire Soldier #1 (1700/1150) in attack mode. In addition, I'll equip him with my Salamandra card, to bring his attack all the way up to 2400! I'm sorry I had to resort to this, but now- ATTACK!" he commanded his pyro warrior always bathed in an inferno. With his new fire sword, he slashed right through me, holographically, bringing my life points down to even fewer than his- 100. But then I just pressed the button corresponding to that trap card I lay down a while ago, "Just Desserts! This card will bring about the end! For every monster you've got on the field, you lose 500 life points. And that's plenty to take you out, Justin!" I heroically said as a mysterious force brought Justin down to zero.

Spontaneously, the card images disappeared and the holographic image producers snapped back into place at the sides of my duel disc. I removed all my cards from the graveyard, magic zone, and deck holder and walked over to Justin as my duel disc automatically divided itself in half again. I turned my system off and greeted Justin as he was trying to hold back a sob.

"Well, it looks like one of us will be continuing with the duels later today!" Justin tried to cheer himself up as he smiled at me and showed me his deck, "Well then, do you want a magic or monster card? (sniff, sniff)" Trying not to be touched too much by his pathetic state. I smiled, looked at him and said, "You didn't lose that badly. Don't beat yourself up. Those last moves you made were pretty well planned. I mean, I would have never thought that you were removing my cards from play in order to damage my lifepoints. I just thought you didn't want me to revive those cards. And using Convulsion of Nature wasn't too bad of a strategy at all, y'know. So be proud with how you dueled. Didn't you make it this far with your skills?" I tried to calm him down. And it worked somewhat, "Yeah, okay. I guess I'm not that bad a duelist just because I lost one lousy duel to a complete stranger, ha ha ha…. Okay. Thanks. SO!" he was a bit better, "Do you want a magic, trap, or monster?"

He showed me his vast variety of cards. And after a short while of deciding and friendly chatter, I chose of his two Spiritualisms, so as not to ruin his deck too much. He made me promise to take good care of it, and I did. So he headed in the direction of the main gate where the "exiting duelists ship" was awaiting. I headed back to the hotel to see if any of my friends were back yet.

"No weird people so far today," I said to myself…


	9. Tournament Stories part 9

Tournament Stories part 9

I kind of took my time returning to the hotel because I knew that I would beat Jack there, as I had always beaten him to the front gate during the preliminaries. So I listened, somewhat meditatively, to the smooth sound of the automatic doors sliding open to reveal a lobby about 1/4 the way full with people who have already won their first REAL duel of the tournament. Feeling proud that I was one of them, I took the three cards out of the innermost pocket from the pack I had gotten from… J and S (whoever they were) and looked at them. They were those three cards that I won so far. There was the Empress Judge from Jenny, Mr. Volcano from Craig, and Spiritualism from Justin. And although they were good cards in THEIR decks, I felt no need to put them in my own, which kind of made me feel pretty guilty. Sighing slightly after slipping the cards back in the pocket in the pack, I walked further into the crowd to see if anyone was here that I knew. I noticed Jonathan far to my right who was talking, somewhat happily, to some boy with a cowlick and glasses. "He must be making fun of him," I said to myself. Straight ahead and to my left I spotted Em who was happily showing off the Punished Eagle (2100/1800) she had won saying, "He's SO CUTE!" And then she noticed me, waved hello happily and went back to her ego-boosting. Finally, I saw Steve talking to the receptionist who was still as crabby as ever.

"…So then what happens now, when the others get here? Are we going to have to be spoken to by that guy again?" I heard Steve satirically ask as I got closer.

"Kid, I don't know. The ONLY ones who really know anything about the rest of this tournament are the host, officials, and-" she was cut off by someone storming into the room yelling. "Okay, kids- listen up, and listen up well!" It was that short blonde-haired lady! "…her." the receptionist finished her sentence and turned to face the computer because we all heard, "You've got mail!"

"I won't say too much more until all remaining 128 duelists are here. But I CAN say that you will not be having another lecture by Miste- … that guy," the woman had to stop and think for a minute because she was about to say the host's name. And after that announcement, many happy sounds were heard and I even singled out, "That lady is so cool!"

So Steve and I waited by the main door as we chatted, "So what card did you win from whoever you were against?" I asked.

"Oh, I was against some talkative guy named Hector. He really knows the rules, but didn't have that many strong cards…" he paused as he scrambled through his deck. "The card you chose must have been good enough to put in your deck, though, huh?" I jeered as he removed it from his deck and showed me. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped.

"Neat, right? It's a rare quick play magic card called De-Fusion. When a fusion type monster is summoned, I can flip this over and it is instantly returned to the Fusion Deck zone! And if all the fusion material monsters for that card are in my graveyard, I can special summon them face up in attack or defense. It's unlikely that THAT will happen, but the destruction of a fusion monster is good enough for me!" Steve cheerfully continued, "Now… if only I had this card during OUR duel… remember that?" he taunted as we didn't notice Jack walk in.

"And Hector let you take it?" I asked.

"He had to, remember? It's the rules of this tournament: 'The winner chooses one card from the loser's deck.'" Steve recited as he turned to face Jack.

"Hey guys, did you hear? Mike was taken out by another duelist," Jack somewhat sadly reported. "I was walking towards the hotel when I heard Mike commanding his Swordstalker to attack some face down card. And he was winning, too, by 1500 life points. So the face down monster was Launcher Spider (2200/2500); that's bad enough. But then the duelist activated The Reliable Guardian and the machine's defense rose to 3200! That's 1200 points of damage for Mike. And THEN he activated some trap card named Destruction Punch. It must be rare because I've never heard of it before. Usually, a monster whose attack is less than the attacked monster's defense remains on the field, right?" he was actually asking us, so there was an awkward silence that lasted for too long.

"Oh! Uh, yeah. You just get damaged and the monster stays. Why?" Steve answered.

"Well, this Destruction Punch card actually DESTROYS the monster whose attack against a defense card fails. It's bogus! So there Mike was with 1600 life points, and no monsters on the field. I felt so bad watching him lose. Then the other duelist just summoned Overdrive (1600/1500) and Mike lost…" Jack finished as we all went silent. "After the other duelist left, I walked up to him and began to say something. But Mike interrupted and laughed, "It's alright. I never expected to make it this far, anyway. And besides, that 7 Completed he took? I've got lots of `em at home- which is where I'm headed. I'll see you there after this tournament is over. Get as close as you can to the top, okay?" and then he walked towards the main gate," Jack said as he readjusted his pack.

"That really sucks…" Steve said. I slowly nodded in agreement as we all went quiet for a few seconds.

"So I guess you won YOURS, though, right?" I asked. "What card did you win?" I tried to cheer up our atmosphere.

"Well, it's not really rare or anything. But here it is," he took the top card off of his deck resting snugly in his duel disc. It was Numinous Healer. I got minorly annoyed as I was seeing this card for the fourth time during this whole tournament. "I get so irritated by people who use direct damage as a working strategy. So I'm going to start loading up my deck with life point recovery cards!" Jack smirked as he slid it back onto his deck.

"But what card did YOU win?" Jack asked me as Steve rapidly nodded.

"Uh… I reached in my pack and took out the three that I won. I grabbed the Spiritualism and accidentally dropped the Mr. Volcano.

"Well, okay. This card I won a few minutes ago, and this one I won from…" and I suddenly realized that Craig's best friend was right next to me.

"Hey! That's Craig's favorite card! …Oh well. He's got loads more in his "useless deck" at home," Steve said as he smiled, surprisingly.

Just then, something suddenly crossed my mind, "Wait! Jack! Did Mike say that he'd see you back HOME?" I asked.

"Yeah. We live in the same town, actually. But I never knew him because he's so much younger. We found this out during our practice duel last night. Though, I must say, it was hard to concentrate with Doug always going monster, magic, monster, trap-"

"No, wait! Is Doug here?!??" I whirled around and frantically began looking across the massive number of people also in the lobby. From where I stood, I couldn't see him.

Thankfully, he walked right in the main doors a few minutes later humming a catchy tune. And we were still standing there. "Doug!" we all exclaimed at once. I don't know about the rest of them, but felt kind of corny saying his name at the same exact time like in one of those anime cartoons…

"How'd it go?" Jack asked. "Did you win a cool card?"

"Ha- DID I?! Just see for yourself!" Doug said as he quietly began humming again as he searched through his deck. "I can't even believe I beat him!" Doug said as he dramatically turned the card around. To our surprise, it was, "…Molten Destruction?" I asked a bit confused. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Boy, did I have you three going! Yeah, that clueless-looking guy couldn't duel ANYBODY without making stupid mistakes. Sometimes I wondered if he even knew what attack mode was! And I picked this card because you wouldn't believe how many fire cards I have. And this is exactly what I was looking for! …And I heard the news about Mike. I, literally, bumped into the guy who beat him who was talking to his friends. He pretty much ignored me as he ran by saying, "Jeez! That Mike kid was a cinch to beat! And I got this 7 Completed card to make my machines even stronger!" and his friends laughed along with him," Doug finished as that familiar megaphone squeaked. That short lady was getting ready to speak again.

"Alright, listen up! All 128 of you are either pretty good duelists, have cheated so well that you're this far, or have had really weak opponents!" and many evilly friendly laughs were heard. "Anyway! For the next round of this tournament, you will be allowed to choose your next opponent." "YES! Finally!" it was that kid from before. I guess he had beaten his friend… "Once you have picked your opponent, you are to report to me and wait for the okay to go out there and duel. Pick your opponents now! I expect to see 64 pairs within the next 10 minutes!" And with that, people rushed away from their friends so they wouldn't be stuck to duel against each other.

Steve immediately picked the loud mouthed guy who wanted these duel discs to entitle us to choose our opponents, and he accepted. With a sigh of relief, he looked at me and gave me a "thumbs up" before I even began to move.

Doug was being attracted to Em because of the huge number of duelists she was turning away as she said, "Like, NONE of you look like you will present a big enough challenge for me!" Noticing this and remembering how tough she was, I said to Doug, "Uh, you don't wanna duel her. Try going over there," as I pointed in some random direction. "Hey, you're right! She's MUCH more sassy!" and he walked off, so did I.

Jack was just standing there, knowing someone would come by eventually.

I looked for someone that appeared tough. I looked all around. But before I could go up to someone I thought would be tough, someone came up to me. "Hey, you. You wanna duel me? Think you can handle my skill?" some guy a little taller than me with his arms crossed was challenging me in that kind of intimidating tone of voice. "Ugh," I thought. "It's one of THOSE guys who through their might around… much like the guys in gym class. Y'know I've always wanted to make one of them pay…" "Sure, I'll duel you," I said as soon as he had asked.

"Haw! Great. My name's Zach. But you had better call me Z. K." he said.

"Alright, I'm (my name)," I said as we went up to that short lady. She tapped on some palm pilot after she asked us our names and she replied, "Okay! You can go."

He instantly LED me to some out of the way location where nobody walked by.

"You ready to lose? Cuz I'm ready to win! You better pray you don't have any cards that you'll miss, because I guarantee that I'll choose your RAREST!"

Now this wasn't too intimidating, but it did make me choke up a bit on the inside. There's something about the cards in your deck, rare or not, that makes you never want to part with them, and losing any one card would all but destroy me.

"Enough talk, let's just duel!" I angrily decalred.

We shuffled each other's decks, walked far away and turned our systems on. Our holographic emitters sped away and stopped at the proper distance. We drew five cards after agreeing that he went first. So he drew a sixth card, "This is perfect! I summon Woodland Sprite (900/400) in attack mode! Next, I equip him with Mask of Brutality, Lightning Blade, and Salamandra! His attack shoots up to 1900!" he triumphantly announced. "But why equip him with those cards if only one of them boosts its power?" I asked. "You'll find out right now! NOW I'm sending these three equip magic cards to the graveyard to inflict 1500 points of direct damage to your life points! HA HA HA!" he chaotically yelled. "WHAT! HOW?!?" I asked in a state of confusion and shock at the sudden drop in my life points from 4000 to 2500. "It's the Woodland Sprite's effect. For every equip card equipped to it that is sent to the graveyard, you lose 500 life points! But I'm not done yet. Say hello to Tremendous Fire! You lose another 1000 life points, whereas I only lose 500. NOW you only have 1500, and it's still the first turn! HA HA HA HA! But now it's your turn. So hurry up so I can beat you!" Z. K. said. I drew a sixth card and looked at my hand.

I was so annoyed. I've never had so many rare cards in my hand at the same time. Then again, I've never had so many cards that I couldn't be able to play in my hand at the same time. In my hand was Monster Reborn, Polymerization, Gravity Bind, Magician of Faith, Red Eyes Black Dragon, and Dark Necrofear. I set my Gravity Bind, and put my Magician of Faith in defense mode. "Your move," I said as he drew a card making his hand total two.

"Great. Now it's time to further kick your butt! I summon Mucus Yolk (0/100) in attack mode and equip it with Malevolent Nuzzler, bringing its total to 700! And now, like its effect allows me to, I attack your life points directly!" As soon as he said that, the ugly glob of jelly structured itself and focused its purplish red eye at me. A beam of light formed in its eye and was launched at me. It made full contact and brought my life points down to 800 with an intense sting. "RRRggghhh… I guess attacks hurt!" I whispered to myself. "And this is the best part! Because Mucus Yolk damaged your life points directly, its attack will rise by 1000 points at my next standby phase! You're already doomed, kid! Feeling like a loser yet? It won't be long until the rarest card in your deck is mine and you are off this island! Now draw!" he demanded as I noticed he didn't attack my Magician of Faith.

I drew one of newest cards, thankfully, Dark Dust Spirit. I began to chuckle. "It's time to even the score, Z. K." I said as he blinked, undaunted, at me. First I'm sacrificing my face down Magician of Faith to summon Dark Dusk Spirit (2200/1800)! This card has a killer effect once it's summoned. As soon as it appears on the field, ALL face up monsters are immediately destroyed, excluding this one!" I grinned as I pointed to the eerie dark creature in front of me. "NOO!!" Z. K. yelled as my zombie rose his hands high into the air with his palms facing the sky, releasing musty brown dust that seeked out and destroyed every monster he had on the field, leaving his field wide open. "And now I'll use this card, I said as I slipped my Monster Reborn into the center magic zone slot. "Crap!" he replied as he took a step back. "I'm reviving your Woodland Sprite and attacking you with both my monsters!" I yelled as my zombie and plant cards poised themselves for attacking. The Woodland Sprite slashed at Z. K.'s side with a particularly sharp stick, and my Dark Dusk Spirit used his intensely sharp nails to gash all around where he was standing, all the while I heard small and halfway muffled cries of pain from this "macho" dude. "Guess what!" I taunted. "You've just become the victim of my largest direct damage attack in my entire dueling career: 3100 points! What say you now when you are losing with 400? Hmmm? My turn is over, so now my spirit card returns to my hand, like its effect requires it to do. And if your next card isn't a monster that you can play, don't expect me to hold back, you understand?" I said as he suddenly realized that he had no cards in his hand. I could see a bead of sweat gather right above his right eyebrow.

He slowly drew the top card, trying to look cool at the same time. But I could tell he was worried. He reluctantly looked at the card and immediately set it in defense mode. "I can safely say that this duel, as close and surprisingly competitive it was, despite my opponent's built like a twig, is almost over! Make your move, kid!" Z. K. said. He had a faint smile on that just beamed out, "I won!"

So before I drew, I thought for a second. "I've got 800 life points left. If that were a monster of 1700 attack points or higher he would have won, unless he's afraid that my face down card is a trap, which it is. But that defense card must either have enough defense to kill me or a killer flip effect, that I would be triggering if I were to summon my spirit card again and attack. I don't think I like this…" I finished thinking as I drew my last card. It was my favorite equip card of them all- Sword of Deep-Seated! This duel was two motions away from being over! But first, I'd soften the blow with a little talk, "Y'know, I never knew of people that actually used direct damage as a working strategy for a way of dueling. Has this tactic worked for you many times before?" I asked as he lowered his eyebrows in suspicion. "Of course. I've won lots of duels back home with my deck. I owe most of my success to my Mucus Yolk. But I didn't know cards like your Dark Dust Spirit even existed! I would have won by now if it weren't for that undead dork you've got in your hand second from the left!" he said as I felt kind of scared of his accurate prediction. But then I realized that he must have seen where I put it in my hand, and then I felt stupid. "Anyway, you're a good duelist. And I want to make sure you know that even-" I was quite rudely interrupted, "SHUT UP! Just make your move and quit stalling for time to think. It's annoying!" Zach yelled. "Alright, fine," I paused and placed one card right under the Woodland Sprite. "I'm equipping him with my Sword of Deep-Seated which raises his attack to 1400! And now I'm unequipping him and sending my equip card to the graveyard, to finish off the rest of your life points!" I triumphantly said, "It's all over."

"Oh! HELL no! That dumb Jonathan kid told me that you were easy to beat! And I was one turn away from blowing your sorry butt back wherever you came from…" and he paused as he picked up his face down card and showed it to me. "Looook!" he said in a kind of squeaky voice. "Holy crap!" I responded. It was none other than the Lady Assailant of Flames. If I were to attack, or let him take his next turn, my life points would have gone down to exactly zero! I would have lost! And he would have taken my rarest card! "That was a tough match, dude," I said as he put his cards back in his deck in the middle somewhere. I did the same.

Zach let out a sigh. "Okay, you won. What card do you want? I've got at least two of everything, so it doesn't matter which one you pick.," But before I chose, I said to him, "Hey. This duel would have been a lot more FUN if you didn't rely on direct damage all the time. Did you notice how short it was?"

"SO? That's the way I like `em."

"Never mind." I abruptly finished up and picked a Numinous Healer mainly because everyone else has one, why can't I? I looked at the letter and number combination at the bottom of the picture, "Pharaoh's Servant, huh? Well, this IS a good card…" I said to myself as Zach turned away. He went back to the hotel to get his belongings and go towards the main gate. I actually looked out to the main gate on the main path going back to the hotel. It looked like a pretty seaport. But I focused on the walk ahead of me, and almost bumped into Em who was laughing to herself.

"Em? Are you okay? Did you win your latest duel?" I asked her who was surprised to see me.

"Huh? Why would you think that I -? Oh, cuz I'm laughing. No! It's funny! Well, not the me, like, losing part. But the card that she chose from my deck! See, okay- I was, like, winning: 2350 to 1200, and it was her turn. Then she all of a sudden activates Shield and Sword which, like you know, switches all face up monsters' attack and defense. And I was like, "Oh no! Now my Spirit of the Harp (800/2000) has, like, almost NO defense power!" So anyway. She flip summons a Man Eater Bug (450/600) which wasn't affected by the changes in attack and defense. But anyway, my fairy card is gone and I take an attack from the disgusting bug which brings me down to 1900. But then, like, she ALSO had a face up Castle of Dark Illusions (920/1930) whose stats where switched, and so with absolutely no cards on the field, I suffered a 1930 damage hit, and she won. But right! The funny part! She didn't take my Wingweaver, or Soul of Purity and Light or ANYTHING like that! She took my Harpie's Feather Duster."

"WHAT! You had a Harpie's Feather Duster?!??" I exclaimed. "Jeez. How come I can't have rare cards like THAT?" I thought to myself.

"Yeah, I did. But the funniest thing was that even though it was the rarest card in my deck, I've got another one at home! Isn't that hilarious!!" and then she continued to laugh as she cheerfully got up. "Yeah… everyone I'm encountering today has backups of their cards..." I distantly said once again looking at the main gate overviewing the ocean.

"But then I guess you're out?" I looked back at Em.

"Yeah, I'm out. But it's weird how I was beaten. She's got so many powerful cards. And she was dressed in so many black things, too, except her red tank top. That's not a way to be dressed in this oncoming heat. I think her name was Sarah, if I remember correctly?" she went quiet for a second as I heard a distant "Noooo!" obviously from a duelist losing.

"Anyway, I wanna check into a super modern deluxe room on the top level of the ship before it's taken," she began as she headed towards the main gate. "There's one more duel today in a few hours. And I don't want any of the 32 more to be coming on this boat to be in my room! See ya around, (my name)! I hope you make it to at least the top 16!" she wishfully shouted as I just stood there waving goodbye.

I stopped waving a few seconds later and turned to face the hotel. About halfway there from where I was, I felt a sharp pat on the back. It was Jack. "Found you!" he said happily. "Who were you waving to back there? Did you just beat her in a duel?" he asked. He was still lugging around that heavy pack that he got from his mom. It made me laugh.

"No, that was Em. We've recently become friends. She had just gotten beaten by some girl named Sarah… she thinks," I answered as we kept walking. He broke a one minute silence by saying, "Hey! Look at the card I won a few minutes ago!"

"Another life point recovery card?" I asked

"You got it! Here it is." And he showed me the card.

It was Soul of the Pure. It increases one's life points by 800. He beamed as I gave it back to him. "So was the person you won that from a tough duelist?" I asked as I could still faintly see Z. K. on the path way ahead of us, about to enter the hotel.

"Oh jeez. Was he ever! He played so many cards that I've never heard of before like Kabazauls (1700/1500), Aqua Spirit (1600/1200) and some really odd card called Chosen One. You heard of it?" he asked as I nodded in agreement. "So did you choose the monster for him?" I replied.

"No. I chose the card all the way to the right. Then the cylinder thingy stopped and faced it. I didn't think it was going to be the monster- and it wasn't. It was some trap card with some guy being blinded by a spotlight or something. So then three cannon-looking things popped out of the cylinder and ignited the virtual cards and the whole display vanished. So he just set a monster, I attacked it with one of my monsters, and then attacked him directly with my other monster and I won." Jack happily finished.

"Won… by how many life points?" I asked him to clarify his margin of victory.

"Uh… 700," he responded a bit embarrassed.

700 life points! These duelists were definitely getting tougher. I took a good look at Jack. He obviously seemed anxious for something. I bet he was thinking about how much longer he'd be lasting in this tournament. I began to doubt MYself too…

The rest of the walk to the hotel was silent.

In the hotel (I made sure I got in first), we were surprised to find that there were already six duelists who had already completed their previous duels randomly wandering around the lobby, occasionally stopping to look at the different kinds of pictures dotting the many walls. I walked up to the receptionist after asking Jack to stand by the door in case someone we know comes through the doors. After catching her attention by accidentally knocking over her pencil jar, I put them back in and asked, "Um, is it true that there will be no more official duels for a few more hours? I've heard this from a friend and wanted to verify it with you," I stopped to turn around after hearing my name. I turned around to see Jack with Doug!

"From what I've been told, I don't know! Jeez! I'm just some person hired to take room numbers and what not for the hotel! All I know is that there will be 64 duelists in here soon, nothing more! So please tell all your friends to ask that short lady when she comes in again and NOT me," and then she spilled her coffee and rushed out of the room.

"Shoulda guessed…" I said to myself as I walked back over to where Doug and Jack were standing, discussing… their favorite female card. Ha… "No way! The Mystical Elf has blue skin! Are you crazy? The Unfriendly Amazon is MUCH more-! Oh, (my name)! Hey, what's your favorite female card?" Doug asked.

"…In terms of attack and defense or something else?" I sarcastically asked not actually intending to give an answer if he had said "something else."

"Ha ha ha! Okay, never mind. Anyway, aren't these duels getting so tough? I barely won mine against that girl you pointed out to me," Doug sifted through his deck for his newly won card. "Her name was Lindsay. And she had some weird monster cards! She had Invitation to a Dark Sleep (1500/1800) which prevents one of my monsters from attacking as long as it is face up on the field. She has a Dreamsprite (300/200) which changes the target attacked when I attack. And the one I most remember was Fire Sorcerer (1000/1500) which requires her to sacrifice two cards from her hand to the graveyard in order to directly damage me for 800 points," he took a breath as he showed us the card he won (obviously fire related). It was Salamandra! "But then how many life points did you win by?" Jack said as I got ready to take out the Numinous Healer card that I won from Z. K. who actually passed behind me on his way out. I noticed him ijust/i leaving as I turned around after hearing the door open.

"I won by 900 life points," Doug reported. Doug then asked while I was turning my head back towards them, "So who was your latest opponent, what card did you win, and how many did you win by?" "And give us another clue to your favorite card!" Jack interjected.

"A ha ha ha! Alright. My opponent was some tough guy named Z. K. I won this from him," as I showed them the trap card, "And I won by 800 life points. And now for another clue to my favorite card… It's got 1700 attack points, it's got an o in its name, it's not a dragon type, it isn't wind or earth, AND…" I paused purposely to get them a bit irritated. "It's level 4," I ended my hint as we all noticed Steve wasn't here yet.

"Anyone seen Steve?" I asked as the main door slid open. We watched who walked through and were disappointed to see that it was Steve's opponent, that guy who always wanted our duels to be not chosen for us. He ran towards a group of 4 other boys and enthusiastically greeted them. Jack and Doug groaned at the loss of another party member. I listened to what the five were saying, "Cool, John! You got a De-Fusion! That's a pretty rare magic card! Who'd you win it from?" "Eh, some kid named Steve. He was good enough- to be BAD!" And I turned back around having heard enough.

"Well, he's gotta come back to get his stuff at least, right?" Doug asked.

"I don't think so. He had his pack with him when he left, remember?" Jack replied.

"But he'll say goodbye, won't he?" Doug said back.

"…I don't know," Jack said.

Unfortunately, he never showed up. We only assumed that he went to the cruiseship. We weren't really SAD, but thought it was disappointing to have beaten by someone like HIM, and I tilted my head to the right a little to hear one of them say, "Yes! The only room in this hotel with undefeated duelists so far!"

A few hours later after everyone went for walks and just returned to their rooms for a little rest, the short woman showed up again and just asked us to gather around. It seems that 64 people are easier to deal with than 128.

"Your host is most pleased with everyone's performance here. And you are all one more duel away from $250 dollars. But half of you will be going home with nothing but a few good memories of the last two days. Well then, you'll be happy to know that for this next duel, you can again pick your opponent. And the same rules apply as last time. You've got 10 minutes. Go!"

Instantly, Jack, Doug and I split up. I don't know who they paired up with, but I know that Jonathan was eyeing me a few times as if to say, "I'll deal with you later!"

Yet he never approached me.

However, I finally found out who the S in J and S was! It was Sarah, the one who beat Em! And she said to me, "You've survived this long. That's good. But now it's time for me to take you out of this tournament, and time for you to give me your Black Skull Dragon!" I was very apprehensive about dueling her and was most probably going to back out had she not said, "Don't even think about backing out. All of us know about your card. And it's only a matter of time until we get our hands on it. And I WILL win it from you in our duel!" Sarah said. "The rare hunters always get what cards they want!" and she laughed low enough for only me to hear it.

"You know, you can just buy some Metal Raiders booster packs and cross your fingers," I said to her- who wasn't too impressed with my response. I continued, "What! It's not even that rare of a card! Why do you want it?!??"

"We want all rare and powerful cards whether we have them already or not. Every rare hunter's goal is to construct the perfect deck containing only the rarest and strongest monsters and magic. And besides… we don't feel like spending money…" her little speech suddenly lost its power when she finished that. I began to not take her too seriously. Looking for another reason to stall I said, "Y'know, black isn't that good of a color to be wearing on a day like this. The sun is so hot today and-" I was interrupted. (I seem to get interrupted a lot)

"Enough of this. We are going to duel now, prepare to lose!" So we registered with that short lady and we headed out the hotel's front doors.


	10. Tournament Stories part 10

Tournament Stories part 10

It was a long walk as she led me to where we would be dueling. I took a first real look at my future opponent. Inside all of that black and just plain ominous clothing, she looked like a pretty nice girl. Well, the black as well as her over-confident smile made me kind of mad and intimidated at the same time. I then realized that I was walking too close to her and made a quick adjustment in my walking path to make it look as if I was walking away from her. We kept walking…

I was surprised when she suddenly stopped at a windy pasture. I thought, iThis island sure is gigantic. There could be an explosion on the other side, and we over here wouldn't know it until a day later! Why is Gree Island such a massive place? And what's with the name? It still sounds so weird. Gree. Is it even in the dictionary…?/i

We shuffled each other's decks. I made sure that she didn't make any attempts to steal any of my cards. And she didn't. Maybe I wasn't giving her enough credit. We returned the decks and walked apart. "Alright. We'll duel here. And I always let the hunted go first. So draw six cards and let's get this duel going!" S declared as we both flicked on our duel discs.

The miniature holographic emitters dashed away and landed at their proper distance. (They began to impress me less and less…)

So I drew six cards and began this very important duel.

In my first hand were Maha Vailo, Waboku, Soul Exchange, Just Desserts, Karate Man, and Chain Energy. Pretty good!

"Alright. I'm gonna start this off well! I'm putting Karate Man (1000/1000) in attack mode! And I'll set these three cards face down to complete my turn. Your move," I said as she drew a sixth card and looked at it in deep thought. But I could hardly tell. Her eyes were pretty well covered by that black veil she wore. She then pivoted her head up towards me and began to make her first move, "I'm summoning White Magical Hat (1000/700) in attack mode! Next, I equip it with Mask of Brutality, which raises its attack by 1000 points. And I'll lay this one card face down. Now I'm attacking your Karate Man!" she declared as the young-looking gentleman sprung his head up and evilly smiled at my monster. His glasses glimmered in light coming from somewhere. I watched as the mysterious spellcaster waved his hands around in some eerie motions while his cape seemed to have a mind of its own with the twirling and flapping it seemed to do with no wind. Suddenly he stopped and spread out his hands towards my Karate Man. Little particles of light gathered within his palms and were about ready to be unleashed, which would have resulted in 1000 points of damage for me, ALREADY. I wasn't in the mood for that to happen, so I countered the attack in a way that I wished I wouldn't have had to… "I'll prevent your monster from damaging me by activating my Karate Man's effect: I'm doubling his attack points as it allows me to once per turn. So now it's 2000 to 2000, resulting in a draw, and both our monsters will be destroyed!" I announced as yellow balls of power sunk into my warrior, boosting its power by 100%! The white magical hat unleashed his beams of magic as my karate man dashed forth with fists glowing. They both connected and vanished simultaneously. "Nothing lost, nothing gained," I said as she continued her turn. "Ugh, whatever. I'm setting this one card face down for my main phase two and end my turn."

It was my turn. And I was feeling pretty giddy to the fact that I could directly damage her without the underhanded tactic of using Change of Heart! (Even though that IS a fair move…) So I drew a card. It was my Malevolent Nuzzler! Nice! I got a fantastic idea, "Hey, look at this! I'm summoning Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode. Next, I'm equipping her with Malevolent Nuzzler, which increases her attack by 700. And, because of her special effect, her attack is increased by an extra 500 for every equip card I give her! So she gets a massive 1200 attack point boost bringing it up to 2750! That's already more powerful than most of the cards in the whole game! And I'm not done yet. Now I'm activating Chain Energy. As long as it's face up on the field, we pay 500 life points for each card we play from our hands! And now… I'm attacking you directly with my Maha Vailo. GO!" And with that, my spellcaster's body rose above the ground and changed into a standing position, still not opening her eyes. The clouds above us somehow knew to hide the sun in order to make this ordeal more dramatic. Slowly, a dark red glow was beginning to be summoned around her body, covered in an even darker blue dress. She made her hands into fists slowly and aimed them silently at Sarah who took a few steps back. She was definitely not prepared for such an attack. And with violent force, she opened her angry, fiery red eyes and opened her fists wide letting loose two intense beams of red destruction right toward Sarah. The sound of the beams emitting from her hands was nothing short of apocalyptic. And judging by the way Sarah yelled, it must have hurt really badly. The next thing I knew, I saw her on the ground, pushing herself back up. I could hear the faint sound of her duel disc going "beep beep beep beep beep beep BEEP!" signifying her life points decreasing to 1250- from one attack. I felt like nothing could stop me with a mega powerful monster and 3 face down cards lying in wait. I FELT like nothing could stop me. Little did I know…..

But it was her turn now. She drew a card and put it in defense mode. She paid 500 life points, but it's almost as if she was happy because she had activated a trap card, "It's called Life Absorbing Machine. From now on, during each one of my turns, my life points increase by half of the life points I paid in my last turn. So every turn, from this point on, my life points will increase by 250. It's all thanks to your Chain Energy!" she smirked and signaled it to be my turn.

I looked at my duel disc for a moment. I don't know why. I had just never taken the time to look at it before. I liked the luster it had about it. The soft glow of the sun reflecting off of my cards in the nicely crafted deck slot was inviting to draw a new card to my hand of zero. I drew a card and looked under the system. It said, "made in china"…

The card I drew wasn't a monster, unfortunately. I was hoping to finish the duel then and there. It was Trap Hole. But since my magic zone was filled up, I couldn't put it down. So I just attacked her face down card. And with the same amazing show as before, her Dreamsprite (300/200) was destroyed.

"Thank you. That was perfect. I'll draw, and I'll increase my life points by 250 now to 1000. Now, because of your quickness to destroy instead of think, I will remove from play the two light monsters that your have destroyed to summon my Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800) in attack mode. And yes, I'm aware that I lose another 500 life points. But my life absorbing machine will cover me for now. And by the way, I wouldn't make your next move if I were you…" and she said it was my turn. I didn't know what she was talking about until I drew my next card. But I thought she was trying to bluff me.

The card I drew on my next turn was my Red Eyes Black Dragon. It was level 7 and needed two tribute monsters. I remembered the Soul Exchange I had set and got a great idea, "I'm now playing Soul Exchange!" I said as I flipped over my rare, holographic card. "It allows me to use one of your monsters as a tribute instead of one of my own. But it doesn't say that I CAN'T sacrifice one of my own in addition to yours. So now I'm ALSO sacrificing my Maha Vailo in order to summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)!" A particularly bright ball of light drifted up from the depths of my virtual card hovering above the ground. The empty soul then rushed for her fairy card and absorbed its life force, causing it to fall to the ground and vanish. My Maha Vailo also disappeared from the field, yielding way for the summoning of one of my more powerful monsters- Red Eyes Black Dragon. "I can't conduct my battle phase, but I'm setting this one magic/trap card face down to end my turn!" It was the Trap Hole I drew. I thought I was ready for anything. And her low life point number, 500, made me all the more secure since I had 3000.

"My turn," she said as she calmly drew a card. Her hand now had two cards in it. I had zero "It's time to end this little childish game," she said to me as her life points rose to 750. "I'm activating one of my face down cards- De-Spell! It gets rid of one magic card. I'm picking your Chain Energy," she smoothly said as it just vanished from the field. Then I noticed a glare, almost a dim and scary glow, in her eyes as she got ready to play the next two cards in her hand, "FIRST I'm playing Monster Reborn to bring back your Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode. And next I'm equipping her with another one of my Masks of Brutality. So she gets a total attack point boost of 1500! HA HA HA! That's almost double! So now, I command you to attack his dragon!" she yelled.

iDamn it!/i I thought. iMy Trap Hole won't work on special summons. So I can't use it to destroy the Maha Vailo. And its attack is now 3050, thanks to its effect. Ugh… now I KNOW how good of a card it is…/i I thought with a little laugh.

"Not so fast!" I said as I pushed one of the buttons corresponding to one of my traps. "I activate Waboku. Any damage inflicted by your monster is decreased to zero for the rest of your turn!" I said a bit shaky as she looked at me with an indifferent face. I drew my next card.

It was another Malevolent Nuzzler! (I've got three in my whole deck.) It was easy to get the idea of equipping it to my dragon. "Now I'll equip my Red Eyes Black Dragon with a Malevolent Nuzzler. I'm sure you remember what it does. Red Eyes! Attack Maha Vailo!" Then my Red Eyes's eyes illuminated with an intense red glimmer. My dragon breathed in all the air its lungs could hold and let out a deafening roar as a bright crimson sphere of pure power was released from my mighty dragon's mouth. It was quite a sight. Accompanied by forceful gusts of wind, the gigantic ball of red energy violently collided with its target, eliminating it from the field. And for all that show she lost only 50 life points bringing her total to 700…

"My my! Aren't you a difficult target to hold down! I'm sincerely surprised regarding how well you are doing against me," she then drew her next card as if she was cued to do so. And her life points increased to 950, "But you can't REALLY expect to win, can you?" she sneered as she set only one card face down on the field. This was the second time her field was left wide open for me. "Your turn," she antagonized.

iThis is bogus! She's got 950 life points and yet is leaving her field wide open for an attack. She's taking a risky move. I hope she knows what she's doing. After all, she's a rare hunter. I hear they are supposed to be tough.../i She then glared at me through the darkness of her hood as if she had heard what I was thinking. So I immediately stopped thinking and drew my next card… Share the Pain.

iDamn it! WHY do I always draw this card at the wrong time or have it in my hand inconveniently unusable?/i I thought as I just kept it in my hand, wondering if I should attack. Figuring the worst it could be was a Mirror Force, I decided to attack; I had two trap cards face down ready to go anyway! "And I WILL attack you directly!" I shouted as my dragon took another deep breath and let the giant blaze of energy fly right towards her. It made full contact, but I heard no scream or beeping to signal life points being damaged. After the holographic smoke cleared away, I discovered that there was what appeared to be a giant vial of something gross looking hovering above her head. I then looked down at her field, wondering what the hell happened. She had activated a trap card! But I had never heard of it before, "Sorry, but this may piss you off. I activated one of my favorite trap cards: Nutrient Z! Let me explain how it works. When I take battle damage, direct or by monster destruction, I can activate this trap card during your damage step if the damage I would be receiving is equal to or greater than 2000 points. And since your dragon has a boosted 3100 attack points, it more than qualifies. But here's my favorite part: BEFORE I take that damage, I increase my life points by 4000!" So her life points counter beeped all the way up to 4950, then all the way down to 1850. It really was a good move… "So I guess it's your turn now," I said.

She drew a card and immediately said, "Perfect." She smirked as she laid one card in defense mode. Her life points went up to 2100 and she signaled it as my turn. I prayed my next card would be a monster card. Of course, it wasn't. I got kind of angry. It was my Polymerization card. I paid no attention to it and just attacked her defense monster. It was the Magician of Faith. And we all know what the Magician of Faith's flip effect is. It was her turn again.

She drew a card kind of quickly. I could have sworn she drew two, but after looking at her hand, I realized it was just two: her revived magic card, and the card she drew. I briefly looked at my hand. I had two cards as well. Two completely useless cards! And boy, did I hate this next turn…

Her life points increased to 2350. She played Monster Reborn and brought back her Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800) into attack mode. And to top it tall off, she played the final card in her hand, Eternal Rest. Once she revealed it to me, I flinched because I knew exactly what it does.

"I'm playing the magic card Eternal Rest. I get to destroy ALL monsters equipped with equip cards. Obviously, your Red Eyes Black Dragon is eliminated, leaving YOUR field open for a direct attack!" After she flipped that card over, an evilly dressed man chanting some satanic incantation swayed his hands over and over until my dragon just slumped to the ground and disappeared. I thought it would have been flashier than that…

"Now ATTACK, my fairy card!" she commanded as her hood almost fell off as the result of her forcefully pointing her finger directly at me. I looked up towards her gentle looking fairy as she softly opened her eyes and wrapped her arms around her. A little ball of light blue energy welled up right in front of her. I wondered if this would hurt or not, to be honest. All that happened after this was she violently opened her wings and thrust open her arms resulting in a deadly display of blue destruction as lightning bolts randomly shocked me all over my body, taking my life points down to 1000. It was a pretty weird turn of events.

"What the hell?" I took time to talk as I was recovering. "Fairy cards are supposed to be weak things! And what kind of dark, eerie, malevolent rare hunter has such light cards in her deck?" She then looked at me in surprise and disgust at the same time and replied, "We rare hunters do not much care WHAT attribute or class monsters we use as long as they are rare or powerful. And how dare you insult my creatures of light. Some of the game's best monsters are of the light attribute: Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500), WingWeaver (2750/2400), and the legendary Seiyaryu (2500/2300). You will speak of them with respect and acknowledgement!" She finished as I flipped over one of my trap cards in a final attempt to damage her life points just in case my next card wouldn't be a monster. "I think I'll activate Just Desserts now. It damages you 500 points for every monster you have on the field. So you have 1850 again," I finished as she told me that it was my turn again.

My hand got a tiny bit shaky as I touched the top of my deck. If this card wasn't a summonable monster, I'd lose this duel, my Black Skull Dragon, and any hope of getting any money out of this whole trip. I held back tears as I took the card off my deck. I looked at it and nearly fell over from the stroke of luck I had just undergone. And the best thing was, it was one of my favorite cards.

"Alright. Your Soul of Purity and Light seems to have taken control of the field. So I'll defend myself with this one card in defense mode, and that'll do it," I happily said.

"Hmm… I sense this duel is nearly over," she said as she drew a card and her life points increased to 2100. "And this is just icing on the cake," she continued as she slapped a magic/trap card face down. "Attack his defense monster!" she yelled.

Once again, the seemingly non-violent fairy unleashed massive bolts of lightning, destroying my defense monster Kisetai (300/800). She didn't know what the heck it was, but I couldn't help but smile. "YES! Thank you so much! Because you destroyed this card in face down defense mode, it is immediately equipped to the attacking monster for as long as it is on the field. And from now on, during each one of your Standby Phases, MY life points increase by the amount equal to half of the attacking monster's attack points. In this case, it would 1000 every turn! Ha ha ha!" I laughed as she angrily frowned at me. "And now it's my turn!" I said.

I drew my Spear Cretin and was forced to put it in defense mode, or she'd obliterate me. I bravely announced, "I'll set THIS card in defense mode as well to end my turn. Go ahead," I prompted her as she snatched the top card off her deck.

"Yes! It's about TIME I drew this card!" she said as her life points rose to 2350, and as mine went up to 2000. "I'm putting this magic/trap card face down." And we both looked at each other for a half a second. "And now I'm attacking your defense monster!" she said. Once again, the fairy violent tore my Spear Cretin (500/500) apart. But that's okay, since I got to activate its effect, "Here's an effect that you aren't going to like for sure! Since this card was flipped and destroyed, we now revive one monster card from our graveyards and special summon it to the field in face up attack or face down defense position. But since you've removed two cards in your graveyard from play, and re-summoned the third, you HAVE no monster to summon!" She looked at me and then her graveyard in shock. "But now, you can give another warm welcome to my Red Eyes Black Dragon!" I announced as I slammed my dragon card down onto the cool metal field attached to my wrist. It rose up from the ground to simulate a revival and let out a roar signifying him being ready for vengeance. I glanced up at its ink black wings and down at her Soul of Purity and Light. "And it's my turn now," I said as I drew a card.

I had drawn my Sangan! It's a very useful card, especially if one's deck has more trap and magic cards than monsters. I set it in defense mode and waited for S to finish her turn.

She drew a card and closed her eyes as her life points increased to only 2600 whereas mine went up to 3000! She set her drawn card in defense mode, but didn't attack my defense card. I was going to ask why after she told me it was my turn, but I figured that she'd just yell at me again, so I just drew a card.

I couldn't believe it when it happened. I had just drawn my Summoned Skull! I looked back and forth again and again at my Red Eyes and my Skull AND my Polymerization, not believing this almost impossible combination, but I had truly done it! I looked up at S and smiled. Still not believing the fact that a powerful monster was about to be summoned, I slowly took the two top cards out of my hand. "Are you ready? Here we GO! I'm activating the magic card Polymerization which allows me to fuse two or more fusion material monsters, from my hand, on the field, or both. This time it's going to be my Red Eyes Black Dragon and my Summoned Skull in my hand!" I said as I held my Summoned Skull up high to show her I wasn't lying. Looking at her, I could tell she was almost pleased that I was making this play. I suddenly noticed those two face down cards that she had played in the last two turns and realized that this may have not been such a good idea after all. But I wasn't thinking that THEN.

I placed my Summoned Skull on the field right next to my Red Eyes Black Dragon and the Polymerization card materialized onto the field in its vertical position. A swirling energy began to seep out of the card, appearing to slowly draw my two monsters together. As the image continued to swirl and reform itself, newer, better wings could be seen in the twists. And more vicious looking fangs glimmered in the sunlight. While this was happening, a slot on the side of the circular part of my duel disc slid open revealing my fusion monster. I sent my Red Eyes, Polymerization, and Skull to the graveyard before placing my dragon onto the field. The side door squeaked shut. And before we knew it, my Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500) was ready for action.

"Meet my most powerful monster! The card you're after!" I said loud enough so only she could hear me. I mentioned to you earlier that I wanted as few people knowing about this card in my possession as possible.

"Fine. Hello… and goodBYE!" she laughed as she pressed a button and revealed one of her face down cards: DE-FUSION! This was bad. "What a shame," and she said my name, "All that work and you have to lose this monster so quickly. De-Fusion is a quick-play magic card that lets me send one fusion monster back to the fusion deck. So adios, BSD! Furthermore, if the Red Eyes Black Dragon and Summoned Skull were in my graveyard, I could special summon them BOTH onto the field in face up attack or defense. But that can't happen. What a waste of a turn! Are you through? Cuz destroying your dragon was my goal in this duel," and with that, her vertical card blasted my dragon with what looked like wind coming from a fan. It seemed to completely undo the fusion into the two separate monsters again which gave me some hope- as I was foolish enough to think that. But her card ended up destroying the whole thing. No Summoned Skull, no Red Eyes, no cards on the field except for my face down Sangan. Oh yeah, I still had that Share the Pain in my hand. The side slot opened again, and I obediently put my card back in the compartment. It clicked shut. I looked at her and said, "Your turn."

"Fabulous. I'll draw this…" she took a few seconds to see what it was along with our life points increasing: hers to 2850 and mine to 4000, "And now I'll activate it! Prohibition! As long as this card is face up on the field, the name of one card I say can't be played- by either of us, except if it's already on the field. And the card I say can't be played will be Monster Reborn! Take that!" She said in a mean voice. As I looked at her card, it took on the form of the Monster Reborn card, only with a big red X through it. "And now my fairy will attack your defense monster!" she commanded, as my Sangan (1000/600) was blown away. But that's alright. I could then activate its effect, "Another successful extermination! But now I can activate my Sangan's effect. When he's sent to the graveyard, I can take a monster of 1500 or less attack and add it to my hand, just to ensure I have a monster in my hand. Then I shuffle my deck," I said. I took the card I desired into my hand and shuffled my deck and waited for her to finish her turn. "Fine. But now I flip summon my face-down Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400) and have him attack your life points directly!" she said as the ugly turtle pushed itself onto its fat legs. The pyramid on its back looked pretty heavy to me. But it was nothing to laugh at. I think that one direct attack hurt more than Em's Jirai Gumo's did. A fine beam of green light gathered at the very point of the pyramid. It got darker green, but the intensity of the light grew. Suddenly, the fine point broadened into a giant continuous blast of power, launched high into the sky, and came crashing down on me. I felt like I was being pushed into the ground AND electrocuted at the same time. My life points went down to 2800. But hers were about to sink even lower.

I drew my next card: Mask of Darkness but instead set in defense mode the card I put into my hand as a result of Sangan being destroyed.

"And for my next move," she paused to draw and let our life points increase. She had 3100. I had 3800. "I'm sacrificing both of my monsters to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)! Attack, with white lightning, his defense monster!"

It was my first time seeing that huge dragon, true to its name, use its legendary attack "white lightning." Its head, towering above everything else leaned way back accumulating all the energy it could in a form of pure white force. The enormous pale dragon then unleashed its sinister deathmark and evaporated my defending Princess of Tsurugi (900/700). "Whoa…" I said as I watched only little puffs of smoke blow away in the wind where my card used to be. "Well, that WAS my Princess of Tsurugi. And her effect damages you for 500 life points per every magic and trap card you've got- face up or face down," I said as she held her duel disc up like a wrist watch- beeping down to 1600.

I drew my next card: Waboku and instantly set it down. Then I set down my Mask of Darkness to end my turn.

"Let's see here," she said after drawing a card and her life points rose to 1850. My life points stayed at 3800 because when she sacrificed her Soul of Purity and Light, my Kisetai was also destroyed. "I'll keep this card in my hand and attack your defense monster!" she announced as her huge dragon annihilated my Mask of Darkness (900/400) which lets me revive one trap card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I brought back my Just Desserts. But S seemed totally overtaken. It appeared to me that she had no idea what any of these dark monsters do. Most of her deck was composed of light monsters. "Alright, it's your turn again." She said.

I was pleasantly surprised after I drew my Trap Master. iOnce its flip effect is activated, I'll be able to get rid of that highly irritating trap card Life Absorbing Machine, even though it IS pretty good./i I thought as I set down that card and Just Desserts. I was very prepared.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she drew a card. I heard her life points again rise to 2100. "You have only been setting cards face down for your last three turns. And oddly enough, they EACH have had effects that somewhat aided you in this duel. You must think I'm naïve. I don't make the same mistake thrice…" i"Thrice"? She actually said thrice?/i I thought as she continued, "So I'm going to play this magic card that I just drew, Dragon's Gunfire! I know it was played against you before. I was watching that duel you were in against Justin… Suddenly my mind went off on a tangent blocking off what S was saying. It was probably the explanation of what it does. I already knew, so I didn't listen. iI got a Spiritualism from that guy. And I won that duel by only 100 life points. If I could barely beat him, what makes me think I can beat this girl? She's a rare hunter for crying out loud./i I then thought of something out of the blue after being reminded of Justin. iWAIT! In our duel, life point loss didn't hurt! I remember when my Swordstalker attacked him, he didn't feel a thing even with its attack boosted to 2700. So why is this attack hurting?/i I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at an orange fireball surrounding me as I felt some type of burning sensation all the while my life points fell to an even 3000. "I guess you chose the life point damage option of your Dragon's Gunfire card?" I asked. "Were you LISTENING?!?? I just bsaid/b that!" she yelled as her dragon's mouth closed with some residual flames coming out of its nose. "But anyway, that was just a magic which means I COULD attack, but I don't think I will… It's your move now," she said as I breathed a small sigh a relief.

iAlright, that Blue Eyes White Dragon has pretty high attack. And it will keep destroying my defenses one by one, whether it has a flip effect or not…/i A small feeling of dread came over me as I looked through my hand with the newly added Nobleman of Crossout. iNo wait! My Share the Pain! This is one of the first cards I ever got! I can play this, force her to sacrifice her dragon, activate my Trap Master's effect and have all three of my trap cards ready to defend me! This WILL work!/i I finished my thoughts and looked up at her, still kind of grinning, even though she had 900 fewer life points than I did, and one card in her hand, almost not daring to play it by the apparent iron grip she had upon it. I made my next move, "Alright then! I'm activating the magic card Share the Pain! It forces us both to offer one monster on our side of the field as a tribute. So we are now left with an empty field," as I activated the card, two swords materialized into the sky and started turning from one end of our monster zones to the other. A red light appeared under the monster that we chose to sacrifice. Then the sword on each side of our field skewered each of our monsters, making them disappear from the field. I wasn't too impressed by THIS display either. iThe folks at Industrial Illusions must have gotten tired by the time programming for the cards beginning with S came around./i I sarcastically thought.

"And my sacrificed monster, Trap Master (500/1100) has a flip effect! It allows me to destroy one trap card. So obviously, your Life Absorbing Machine is history!" I said as her holographic face up card decomposed form the field. "And my turn is now over!" I declared as she looked at me in surprise.

After drawing a card, she stopped for a brief second expecting to hear her life points go up. But nothing happened. It felt good knowing that I can foil people's strategies… "Fine… those three face down things are most likely traps; there's no way you'd be this calm with an empty field in any other situation. So here's what I'm doing. I'm setting this face down in defense mode to end my turn!" I looked up in the sky for a second. I could have sworn I felt a rain drop. And the sun never came back since my Maha Vailo first attacked…

I drew my rarest trap card Last Turn and remembered how it was the reason why I won in my duel against Em. I then made an obvious move. "Now I play Nobleman of Crossout. It destroys one face down monster and removes it from play. If the destroyed monster has a flip effect, we both search our decks and remove any monsters of the same name from them. So let's see what that face down card is!" I said. She flipped it over and I was kind of shocked. It was actually a dark monster, Cyber Jar (900/900)! (Boy, that card never fails to make an appearance lately!) "Okay, since my card was activated first, we'll carry out ITS effect first. Since the Cyber Jar has a flip effect, we must now go through our decks and remove from play all other Cyber Jars. Like you'll have more than one anyway, though. The official rules say that one can have one Cyber Jar in their deck," So I took out my Cyber Jar and we both shuffled our decks. "Okay, NOW we can do what the Cyber Jar says," I said as I took the top five cards off of my deck, so did she. We showed them to each other. I got Labyrinth Wall (level 5), Headless Knight (level 4), Reinforcements, Big Eye (level 4), and Man-Eater Bug (level 2). I set all the monsters of level 4 or lower. She drew Cave Dragon (level 4), Harpie's Brother (level 4), Garuda the Wind Spirit (level 4), Chorus of Sanctuary, and Graverobber's Retribution. She summoned all three of her monsters. "And that was just my Main Phase One. I can still continue my turn!" I announced as she looked a bit confused. I set my Reinforcements trap card and sacrificed my Headless Knight (1450/1700) to set my Labyrinth Wall. I knew what she was thinking when she glared at that card. Fortunately, I had a plan all lined up… I ended my turn as my Labyrinth Wall (0/3000) switched to attack mode, as I had predicted. Garuda the Wind Spirit (1600/1200) allows its user to change the battle position of one of their opponent's monsters at the end of their opponent's turn. And since Labyrinth wall has zero attack, it'd be like directly damaging me- or would it?

She drew her next card and sacrificed her Harpie's Brother (1800/600) and Cave Dragon (2000/100) to summon the mystical Seiyaryu (2500/2300). But this is exactly the kind of play I was waiting for, because then I activated one of my long-waiting trap cards Trap Hole! "If a monster summoned by you has an attack of equal to or greater than 1000, it's destroyed. So I'm getting rid of your Seiyaryu!" I said as a gigantic hole was formed right beneath her dragon, and it fell down the hole, completely gone. "Why thank you. Now I can activate this: Minor Goblin Official! From now on, you lose 500 life points at each of your standby phases!" and she laughed kind of triumphantly. But I was confused, "Why didn't you activate it way back when I summoned my Black Skull Dragon or something?" I asked as I remembered when she actually set it down- quite a long time ago. "I was hoping to have beaten you by then… But it appears as if I've underestimated the power of your deck; and I've only constructed mine to its medium level. I KNEW I shouldn't have listened to my older sister! And besides, THIS trap can only be activated when your life points are 3000 or less, and I didn't feel like activating it so early," she angrily said as she turned her head to her right a bit. I turned my head to the left to see what she was suddenly distracted by. "But it's still my battle phase. And I'll attack your attack-less wall with my Garuda the Wind Spirit!" she commanded as I activated another one of my trap cards, "Here comes Waboku again! Any damage inflicted by your monsters is decreased to zero, so my Labyrinth just barely makes it," I said as she looked confused this time. "But since the damage has been decreased to zero, shouldn't BOTH cards be destroyed?" she asked. It really was a good question. I answered, "You'd think that, but they said that the DAMAGE was taken down to zero, not your monster's attack points. It was the DAMAGE that was decreased to zero. Get it?" and she just nodded in agreement.

It was my turn again. I drew my Monster Reborn- a useless Monster Reborn because of her Prohibition card. So after my life points went down to 2500, I just figured out a different way to win. "Alright! First off, I'm changing my Labyrinth Wall back into defense mode. Next, I'm flipping over my Man-eater Bug (450/600) to activate its flip effect. I get to destroy one of your monsters! So it's adios to your wind spirit!" I said as a look of resentment instantly appeared on her face. I could tell she was mad at her sister still. "Now hold it! You've activated a monster's flip effect without a monster attack, or magic/trap card effect! Shouldn't that Man-Eater now be in attack mode?" she asked as if I had made a huge mistake. I corrected her (boy, I'm glad I knew the rules!), "Nah, that's another frequently confused rule. A flip effect monster's effect can be activated by just plain flipping it over, but on the turn after you set it down. What you're talking about is a flip-summon when you flip a face down monster to face up ATTACK position, which is what I'm doing now with my Big Eye (1200/100)! But before I attack I'll use its flip effect to see the top five cards in my deck and arrange them how I like… done! Attack her life points directly, Big Eye!" Obediently, he stood up from his crouching pose and closed his eyes, keeping his huge arms close to his body. Then he widely opened only the eyes facing her and held his arms stretched in line with his back as millions of little dark green beams came spouting out of each eye, randomly attacking her side of the field. After the green clouds of smoke settled I looked into her black hood so as to tell her that this duel was almost over. She was only too interested in drawing her next card, "I'm increasing my life points by 1000 to 1900. And now I'm summoning The Immortal of Thunder (1500/1300) to destroy your Big Eye… stupid sister," she trailed off as her thunder card quickly whipped his sparking golden rod of electricity and pointed it at my fiend. He paused for a second and then we both watched as bright ball of yellow electricity collected at the lightning shaped symbol at the end of his staff. And with a low yell, he released the voltage unto my Big Eye as he struggled to fight the force. "I activate Reinforcements to increase my card's attack by 500 to 1700, destroying your immortal of thunder!" Five blue spheres of light appeared over the corresponding section in which I activated my trap card. They absorbed into my Big Eye, boosting his power. He then opened his biggest eye and unleashed a powerful stream of green energy, which easily won against the electricity and overcame her monster, destroying it and bringing her life points down to 1700.

"DAMN YOU! But damn my sister even more! When I get my hands on her, she is going to pay for fooling me into constructing my deck this way! Summon whatever you want. These two dumb cards in my hand, and these idiotic cards on the field won't help me. GGRRRRR! What did I do wrong? Sure I was winning in the beginning, but that's how I lure all my victims into feeling a false sense of security and- NO! There's no way I can win NOW!" she began to panic as I smiled after I drew my next card. I didn't even care that my life points went down to 2000. This duel was OVER! I had bfinally/b for once drawn my favorite monster card!

"Alright! NOW I'm summoning," and there was a huge blast of thunder as I was shouting its name, so she didn't hear me. "Attack her life points directly!" He was definitely ready to fight in his armor and wielding his sword like a pro. He held his sword out in front of him and pulled it close to him. The sword gathered strength from a mysterious blue force, which made it glow and emit a blue energy. He then dashed forward and jumped up high. The illuminating blue sword was violently slashed twice "through" her. The holographics disappeared as they came in contact with her and reappeared on the other side. He jumped back and her life points decreased to exactly 0.

As soon as he had landed, the duel was over and he was already disappearing. But before he totally vanished, he turned his head left and pointed his eyes towards me and gave me a thumbs up as the holographic emitters clicked off and my duel disc shut itself off. I put all 82 of my cards back into one deck, and approached my opponent. She was just standing there shuffling her deck.

"Whatever. Just take one of my cards. I don't want one of your post-duel chats," complying with her request, I took her Offerings to the Doomed and actually considered it good enough to put in my deck. I was going to say "good duel" but she was already storming back to the hotel shouting certain things about her sister.

After heaving a sigh of relaxation, I began walking back too hoping that Doug or Jack made it through this round okay…


	11. Tournament Stories part 11

Tournament Stories part 11

After remembering which paths Sarah had led me to get to that windy pasture (I still couldn't believe it), I noticed two duelists, one of which obviously a rare hunter, heading towards the same field I had come from. I also found it pretty odd that this rare hunter was leading this duelist as well. But he looked pretty confident instead of kind of cautious, which is how I was feeling as Sarah took me down to the field. Feeling rather awkward, I asked them, "Would you mind if I watched your next duel?" I wanted to see if these rare hunters were as tough to beat as Sarah was, if not more.

The boy stopped and turned to face me. But the rare hunter kept walking.

The boy said, "Sure! You can watch! Just no cheering okay? I can win my duels without encouraging talk!" he said, kind of cocky if you ask me. But I was glad for the affirmative response to my request and followed behind the two, but not too closely.

The two duelists shuffled each other's decks and walked apart from each other, turning around at the same time. Those boring holographic emitters sped away again. I couldn't help but yawn a bit.

The rare hunter then said, "I always let the hunted go first. So let's get this over with so I can win your rarest card!" I was genuinely shocked to hear that this was another female rare hunter! Interrupting the duel on a hunch, I felt kind of stupid as I shouted to each of them, "What are your names?" My face turned red as soon as they both looked at me…

"You two can call me J, for now," and she glanced at me in an uncomfortable kind of way. _Oh crap- it's HER! She's the J in J and S- her older sister!_ I thought as the other guy spoke.

"And I'm Andre Kaizer- the future victor of this duel! Are you ready to lose, J?" he asked as he smoothly drew the top six cards off of his deck and fanned them out in front of him without looking at or dropping any of them. He was quite flashy when he dueled, and this was before it even started! _Andre… Kaizer? Why does that name kind of ring a bell?_ I thought as the duel began.

"You're so over-confident; this shouldn't take me so long. Let's duel!" she replied as she drew five cards. It was refreshing to hear two other people's life point meters beep instead of my own.

"You asked for it! For my first move, I'm going to summon Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode, as well as put this one card face down on the field- your move," he calmly said. I felt really antsy knowing that I'd have no idea what cards would be face down until they were revealed. _Wow. He's got a Maha Vailo too!_ I thought as I felt a bit uneasy; let me tell you- watching a duel and being in a duel are two completely different things.

"Very well. I'm summoning Lord of Dragons (1200/1000) in attack mode and activating Flute of Summoning Dragon! With these two cards on the field, I can special summon TWO dragon type monsters directly from my hand- regardless of level!" J yelled. _Whoa! Such an unlikely move on her first turn! I hope Andre has some good defenses laid out. If she can directly summon high-leveled or strong attack monsters, this duel may nearly be over before he can take his next turn!_ "And from my hand I will special summon Cave Dragon (2000/100) and Curse of Dragon (2000/1500) both in attack mode!" Now prepare yourself! Cave Dragon! Attack his Maha Vailo!" she yelled. And then, obedient to its master, the Cave Dragon traveled as fast as it could towards his Maha Vailo and took a massive swipe at her with his tail… after he activated his trap card lying in wait.

"Ha ha ha! This is great. I'm activating Metalmorph- my absolute favorite card in the whole game!! This trap card acts as an equip card which raises her attack and defense by 300 points! And BECAUSE this card is acting as an equip magic card, she gets an additional 500 attack point boost. That raises her total to 2350- enough to destroy your dragon card and damage your life points!" he proudly said as he shook the back of his hand of four cards at her. She could only watch as the spellcaster ducked beneath the dragon's spiked tail and rose up, with her eyes closed, exactly as before. Then she collected pure red power inside her fists and violently opened her eyes and fists, setting free the red energy to wreak havoc upon her monster, which was destroyed before it could return to her side of the field. And to make it all sweeter, her life points sunk to 3650. _Unbelievable! He had the perfect defense for that card set up all along. And with Metalmorph equipped, her attack will rise every time she attacks. That was a good move!_ I thought to myself as J simply smiled and said, "For my main phase two, I'll lay this TRAP card face down on the field. Tough enough to take a gamble with your spellcaster, there?"

"Are you kidding? THIS isn't my only strategy… though it IS the first time I've used it. I got the idea after beating my last opponent not too long ago…" That made me laugh for some reason. Andre looked at me, kind of smiled, tilted his head to the right a little and scratched his forehead right above his right eyebrow. I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

"Anyway, it's my turn now," he said as he made his hand a total of five cards. Removing one card from his hand and setting it face down right next to his Maha Vailo, he put his hand across his mouth and thought a bit. His eyes darted back and forth between her face down magic/trap card, that she so forcefully declared was a TRAP card, and his face down defense monster. Then, making a reluctant nod, he spoke, "And now I'll have my Maha Vailo attack your Curse of Dragon!" We all watched as the spellcaster rose up again, and her attack factor went up to 3350, because of Metalmorph's effect. And just as before, a highly destructive force of red power hurled toward that yellow dragon. But J simply laughed and activated a trap card, "You fool! Didn't you hear me when I said that this card was a trap? Now I'm activating Mirror Force! It reflects that attack back at all your monsters and destroys them! That will teach you for acting too brashly!" I was shocked when a huge clear, and yet visible, bubble of defense wrapped around J's whole field. The massive attack was bounced back at both of Andre's monsters, destroying them- including the face down monster, unfortunately for J, "Heh, I kinda figured you'd attempt at something like this. So instead of suffering like this later in the duel, I got that trap out of the way NOW. And here comes more good news for me! The face down card you flipped over? That was my Penguin Soldier which returns two monsters to your hand. So it's "good bye for now" to your dragon and Lord of Dragons!" He happily said as he set one magic/trap card face down for his main phase two. It was turning out to be quite the tense duel so far!

"I do not fear your trap!" J said as if she knew exactly what card it was. She drew a card and immediately set a magic/trap face down. Next she summoned Armored Zombie (1500/0) and attacked his life points.

"It won't be so easy, cuz now I'm activating Waboku! Any damage done to me directly or to any of my monsters by one of your monsters is decreased to zero. So that attack was wasted," Andre said a bit uneasily. I could just plain tell he was a bit on edge having lost all monsters on the field. It appeared to me as if it seldom happened with him…

"Was it? I activate the counter trap card Seven Tools of the Bandit! As I pay 1000 life points, that trap is negated and destroyed! A HA HA HA!" J laughed as a Swiss army knife looking thing rose up from the back row of her field. It shuffled through its options all by itself until it came to a laser pistol object. It took careful aim and blasted right though Andre's vertical trap card- destroying it. He looked stunned, truly.

So the zombie continued with its attack. The ugly green-skinned zombie actually rather quickly trudged toward Andre and slashed at him once with his deadly blade. His life points went down to 2500. J's life points decreased to 2650. As of now, I had no basis on which to guess who would win. He seemed to have skill and strategy whereas J seemed to have powerful cards- a tactic that requires no strategy at all, might I add.

"Okay, fine. It's my turn now," Andre still kept as much cool as he could and drew a fourth card into his hand. I heard a faint sigh of relief.

"I'm setting two magic/trap cards face down. And I think I'll summon Harpie's Brother (1800/600) and have him destroy your Armored Zombie!" the wildly dressed winged beast burst into the air with a loud growl. And as he hovered in the air, his feathers stiffened and straightened out. Then he swiped forward with deadly speed and cut the zombie in half with its razor-sharp wings in a fraction of a second. It returned to Andre's side of the field and just stood there with fists clenched, ready to fight again. J just shrugged despite her loss of 300 life points.

"I think I should take this up just a bit," J said a bit annoyed. She drew to make her hand a total of three cards. We all knew that one of them was Curse of Dragon, and one was Lord of D. But the other was a mystery- but only for a few seconds. "I'm playing Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two more cards from my deck…" she pushed the magic card into one of the thin slots. As with all other magic or trap cards when they're activated, the turn from face down to face up position vertically facing the opponent. The huge pot laughed an uncontrollable laugh and launched two cards out of its opening on top of it. That signaled her to draw two cards, which she glared at.

"…Still not good…" J said as she activated another magic card out of her hand. "I'm playing Graceful Charity. This rare magic card lets me draw THREE cards from my deck and discard two," J said as Andre crossed his arms in impatience.

"Ha ha! MUCH better. I'm playing the magic card Polymerization. It lets me fuse special fusion material monsters from my hand, on the field, or both. So look! In my hand are both the Baby Dragon AND Time Wizard!" she shouted. "WHA-?!?? Impossible!" Andre yelled back. I even stumbled a step back at the nearly impossible combination she had, conveniently, in her hand. My surprise instantly turned into suspicion at that same moment. This was much like when she played her Lord of D. combined with the Flute of Summoning Dragon- on her FIRST TURN.

"So here comes…. THOUSAND DRAGON (2400/2000)!" But instead of the Polymerization card combining the two, the Time Wizard turned to face the dragon with its clock wand clutched in his hand. He pulled his wand back and whipped it forth towards the Baby Dragon and monotonously said, "time… magic." The two monsters instantly froze in whatever pose they were in. Suddenly, a vortex surrounded them, completely concealing them both. All that could be seen was their silhouettes fusing together to form the massively powerful Thousand Dragon which was now before Andre. He didn't look too scared, though. _Those two cards he's got face down there must be really good if he's unafraid of this huge creature!_ I thought as he closed his eyes, crossed his arms again, smirked and tilted his head down, shaking it from side to side slowly. This made J a bit angry.

"YEAH?? Well there's nothing in the rules that say a fusion monster can't attack in the turn it's summoned. So, Thousand Dragon! Attack his Harpie's brother!" And as if signaled by a cruel master, the dragon fiercely reared its head back and let out a roar that scared all the nearby birds out of trees. And since we were in an empty field, that says a lot. The dragon took a mighty deep breath and let its power out through its nose, surrounding his winged beast with terrible smelling gas that was obviously poisonous, for before we could realize it, his monster was lying on the ground, just disappearing. And his life points went down to 1900. The score was now 2350 to 1900. It was still kind of close…

"Hey thanks! Since you've sent one of my monster cards to the graveyard, I can activate THIS: Michizure! It's a rare trap card that lets me destroy one monster card when one of MY monsters are sent from the field to the graveyard. So because of YOUR brashness, you lose your dragon!" Andre proudly revealed his face down card. I giggled at its art. It showed some guy hanging off a cliff with some ridiculous face. I just found it humorous. A circle of fire appeared below her dragon and violently opened up, swallowing the dragon in its entirety. Then the circle of fire sealed itself off, and the little flames that were outlining the circle flickered out.

"So now it's my turn, and your field is entirely blank!!" He taunted as he drew a card, proud with the results. "But I'll just set this one face down in defense mode," he said as he looked at her with a "come and get me" look on his face. His black hair hung over his eyes in such a way that he looked like he had a million tricks up his sleeve, each one of which would obliterate anything you set against him. Of course, this was his HAIR, not his mind. For all we knew, this would be his last reliable defense.

"Why didn't you attack my field? Afraid of what cards lie within the deepest reaches of my deck?" and she drew a card. "Like this one?" and she grinned as Andre looked at his hand of only one card. "I'm playing the magic card Painful Choice!" _Painful Choice?!?? I own that card! It's so rare and has a great magic effect!_ I thought as my jaw dropped when I heard the card's name. I looked over at Andre, he seemed rather clueless as he waited for her to explain its effect. "This highly rare magic card lets me select five cards from my whole deck and show them to you. Then YOU choose the card that goes in my hand! Ha ha ha! So prepare to pick your own fate!" J said as she searched her WHOLE DECK for five cards to reveal to Andre. She finished, but didn't shuffle her deck! That card is a very useful card to have… She showed him the five cards she picked from her deck. Even though the two were standing pretty far apart, she fanned them out far enough for him to be able to make each of them out. I looked over to her and saw Monster Reborn, Waboku, Magician of Faith, Witch of the Black Forest, and Wall of Illusion. Andre's face flinched. No matter what card he chose, he would be putting himself at a minorly small disadvantage. _Hmm… if she could have chosen ANY FIVE cards from her whole deck for Andre to choose from, then why did she not pick slightly more powerful cards? I wonder if this rare huntress is all she's cracked up to be…_ I skeptically thought as we both waited for Andre's decision.

"Uh… tough choice. The card that's going in your hand is… Wall of Illusion," he quickly finished as he looked at his face down monster, half smiling.

Fine, I'll send the other four cards to the graveyard, set this card in defense mode and end my turn.

Andre drew a card and was practically jumping for joy. "I just drew the duel-winning card! Watch this!" Andre happily announced.

"First, I'm sacrificing my face down card, Gravekeeper's Guard (1000/1900) for a tribute summon. But first, I must activate its effect!" J gasped. She knew what was coming, I could tell. "Once it's flipped, I return one monster on your side of the field to its owner's hand. So I send your own Wall of Illusion back to your hand… as ironic as that sounds. And now for my tribute summoned monster, Amphibian Beast (2400/2000)!" And at that moment, little raindrops were visible for the first time since the clouds covered the sun during my duel against Sarah. It had gotten significantly colder and windier, too. Emerging from the murky ground and shaking the dirt off of its back once totally visible, the Amphibian Beast looked at J- filled with animosity- and her totally exposed field.

"Well I must say, it's been an… interesting duel- to say the least, J. Amphibian Beast! Attack her life points directly!" Obediently, the monster just sat there, only opening its mouth. Suddenly, a massive tongue lashed out and slammed J twice on both sides of her, rocking her around violently. With only 2350 life points to take that 2400 hit, her life points sped down to 0, and the duel was over. J tried to keep her dignity about her as she gathered up her cards in her deck, and shut off her duel disc. Andre quickly organized his deck, and ran over to J.

"I can't believe I was beaten by a 12 year old," J murmured as she showed the contents of her deck to Andre.

"Hey! I'm not twelve! I'll be turning 14 soon!" he argued as he chose a card and slid it into his deck.

"…..Even worse….." J uttered as she quickly walked off, with her black wardrobe fluttering behind her, leaving us two behind.

After she was out of hearing range, I began a conversation with Andre, "Andre Kaizer! You've just defeated a rare huntress. How do you feel?" I asked in a friendly voice. _ANDRE! I know I've heard that name before!!_

"Indifferent. Come on, it's beginning to rain. Let's get back to the hotel," he somewhat commanded. I nodded in agreement and made sure my pack was zippered before we continued. I could tell that this storm would be bad.

Erupting into a slow jog after hearing the first rumble of thunder a few seconds later, Andre and I began to bounce questions off each other, "Do you still have to take part in a duel?" he asked me all of a sudden. "No. In fact, I had just got done beating J's sister before you two showed up! What card of yours was J after? Do you know?" I replied.

"Got no idea. In fact, I didn't even know I HAD a card that they wanted. But which card was J's sister dueling you for?" he innocently asked.

Realizing how much I wanted to keep my dragon a secret, I said the name of a different card in my deck that was just as rare, "Uh, she wanted my Last Turn. Yeah, it's one of the rarest trap cards in the game…" and I scrambled through my deck to show it to him just so he'd believe me. Going through one's deck while jogging isn't too easy. Holding it face up, two small drops of rain splattered on the face of it. I instinctively wiped it off with my sleeve, carefully put it back into my deck, and continued, "But I beat HER. So this is the card I chose," I said as he glanced at my newly won Offerings to the Doomed. "So what card did you just win from J, Andre?" I asked as he was already shifting through his deck in anticipation of my question. I put my deck in my pack and securely zippered it from the rain that was progressively getting harder as we jogged back to the hotel.

"Take a look," he replied.

"Hey, that's Nobleman of Crossout! I've got that card. And it's really rare, too!" I said as I turned my head to try and see the hotel below the endless stretch of black sky in front of me. I didn't.

"Yeah, I've got the Nobleman of Extermination and figured "why not?"" Andre said as we jogged along. I didn't know what the Nobleman of Extermination did, but I didn't feel like asking as my hair was getting matted down from all the rain.

About another 10 minutes later, we arrived at the hotel. I started to get angry at how huge this island was. But I looked around, trying not to let my soggy hair get in my eyes' way of seeing if anyone else I knew was here. But before I could really make out anybody's face, the weird short lady who was waiting at the entrance told us to stop and ran over with some weird gizmo in her hand. She stopped in front of us and told us to turn on our duel discs. We did and the life point counter went up after a faintly visible beam of led light shined in a special spot on our life point display. She scanned both of ours. After a few seconds, the little machine made a happy 2-toned, 5-note beeping sound. She smiled lightly and handed each of us a blank card. Mine said #1 on it. His said #32. We both looked at her in confusion.

"I know, I know. The weird numbers, right? Okay, you take them into that room and show them to the lady there," I noticed that the receptionist wasn't at her desk, and that the short lady was pointing at the room in which we had those practice duels. "The number signifies what number duelist you are as part of the final 32. For example, you," she paused as she looked at me, "will be dueling against duelist number two, got it?" she finished as be both nodded in somewhat agreement. "What! I handed them out at random, if that's what you're confused about! Anyway, I've got 5 more of these to hand out. If there are no more questions, go into that room, show her your numbered card, and wander the grounds if you like- there are no more elimination duels today," she informed us as she flicked something off her red sweater. All three of us watched it land on her pair of blue jeans. "Oh! Um, since we're both included in the final 32, shouldn't we be awarded $250 like that guy said?" Andre asked.

"Don't you worry about that, kid," the lady smiled. "All monetary prizes will be awarded whenever one is disqualified. The card prizes, however, given either of you make it that far," she purposely paused to look us both in the eyes, "will be awarded at each level in which they are stated to be awarded. Get it?" she said as she took a breath and looked to her left at a duelist just arriving. He looked more waterlogged than we did.

But having no more questions, we went into the room that had those pods in them before… but now they were gone. In their places were huge dueling arenas!

"What happened to the pods?" we both silently said at once. We looked at each other and remembered what we were in this room for.

"Unless you're two of the final 32, or custodians, please leave," the cranky receptionist said. We laughed a little and walked over to her desk. Seeing me, she hid her pencil jar within her top drawer.

"We are quite official!" Andre said as we showed her our numbered cards. I couldn't help but giggle a bit after hearing that.

"Alright. From this point forward, we will be using dueling arenas, not duel discs. Though you may keep them. But it will be just like duel discs, anyway. The graphics are hugely improved. And the attacks, either on attack mode monsters or direct, do hurt- but not as painfully. All the same rules apply: 4000 life points, fusion monsters are still able to attack in the turn that they are summoned, and the rest of the real rules," she said as she typed away on her computer.

"I thought you before said that you don't know anything about the tournament," I said after a flashback to the past.

She looked at me a bit angrily and replied, "Yeah, the short lady in front had to register duelists and hand out those number cards. I was just put here and given some PAPER to READ," she said while tapping the paper with all the things she just said to us on it. And then to truly rub it in our faces, she held it up in front of her and read in an unrehearsed voice, "Oh, and before you go! Please try to come here at around nine o'clock tonight so you all can get some more practice in before tomorrow's final five duels! O K?" and then we walked off as she started laughing to herself. The door loudly slammed behind us like it always did.

"(my name)!" Jack said as we were halfway into the lobby. I turned toward the door to see him and Doug in the middle of examining each other's decks. Doug was obviously confused about something, but looked up, happily waved and tilted his head back down as he turned one card over sarcastically looking for something.

Andre and I walked over as I prepared myself to introduce everybody.

"Hey Jack, Doug. This is Andre. Andre, that's Jack, and that's Doug with the confused look on his face," I said as the other two laughed. "If you lost one of your most important cards, you'd be confused too!" he snapped back. I backed off, only to see a smile slowly begin to appear on his face. "You're too gullible!" he said as I did nothing. I waited for him to calm down before talking again.

"Alright everybody. Who'd you duel, and what'd you win?" I asked.

"I dueled some weirdo named James. All he did was rely on defense mode and flip effects to win. I must say, it's an effective strategy to some extent. But when you've got an oncoming storm, it's not nice to only be defending and not letting your opponent attack you," Jack said. "How'd you win? Andre asked. "I'm not too sure. I think he messed up or something because I remember attacking one of his monsters and severely damaging his life points. It was something something Thunder," he said. "Immortal of Thunder?" I suggested. "Yeah! That's it!" he said.

"…WHY would anybody have an Immortal of Thunder in their deck? Its flip effect is so horrible. And its stats aren't that great as it is," Doug joined in.

"Beats me. But I'm the one that beat him! Look at the card I won! It's called Ultimate Offering. It's a trap card that let's me perform another normal summon or set at the cost of 500 life points per monster. And it's a permanent trap, too! So if the other guy plays Raigeki at his first main phase, I can activate this during his battle phase and at least have ONE monster on the field to defend me," Jack said as he dreamt about ways of using his newly won card.

"I've heard that you can have a full field of five monsters on your opponent's first battle phase with this card," Andre mentioned, not really sure of his information.

"I don't know. But why would you want to waste all those life points?" I responded as another duelist walked in the doors behind me. The tail end of a thunder blast swept through the room. We all jumped.

"Doug? Who'd you win against, and what card?" I asked.

"Some girl. I forget her name. But the card I won is fire related, of course. It's the Lady Assailant of Flames. Her effect allows me to inflict 800 points of direct damage to my opponent's life points by removing three cards from the top of my deck from play after she's flipped. Pretty neat," he finished as the short lady's little gadget made that happy little beeping sound again. She yelled, "Everybody listen up I'm not going to say this more than once!" and there were a few seconds before only spread out coughs and sniffles could be heard. She slightly lowered her voice, "All thirty two of you are finally here. You are all now guaranteed at least $250!" She was immediately interrupted with a wave of applause and wild cheers. It died down and she continued, "Okay, now for what's happening tonight. At 9 tonight, we'll be having a small practice duel session for those interested. Everyone who goes will be dueling twice. There are no prizes or eliminations, so feel free to attempt at new strategies. Now you may roam around the island as you please until nine o'clock. But, given the rainy situation outside, you'll most likely be in the hotel for a long while." So she walked into that side room, with the door loudly slamming behind her.

Chatter gradually returned to a normal, nonsensical manner as I turned back to my friends. They all suddenly made grimaces towards me, especially Andre. "What's with the ugly faces? Do I have something on my-" I stopped talking after hearing my name demanded out right behind me. It was Jonathan. I had a brief flashback to when he beat me in the school tournament for some reason. But I snapped out of it as he showed me his "last five" entry card. It had the number 16. I heard Doug behind me faintly say, "No!"

"What's YOUR number?" he rudely asked. "One," I simply replied. "Hmm… looks like we won't be dueling any time soon… but we WILL face each other once more- and for all time. I've made sure to take the rarest and strongest cards from each of my weak opponents' decks. Next time, you're mine!" and he stormed off up the stairs to the rooms. Turning once again toward the others, they were all looking at me with different expressions on their faces. Jack was a bit worried, but not for me. In fact, I doubt he was listening, or Doug. They were both scrambling through their decks still. I wondered if they had even registered for the final five's yet… But Andre looked me square in the eye, "Jonathan Greanor, huh? He's not so tough. He's just mad because the guys at Industrial Illusions turned down his ideas and designs for new monster cards. So he'll take out his anger and frustration on anybody he can," he said to me as if this were a daily thing.

"How do you know him?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? He goes to our school! Last year he beat you in that duel for first place," he stated as he glimpsed over Jack's shoulder trying to hold back a laugh.

"I KNEW your name sounded familiar! Yeah, Andre Kaizer! You're one of the youngest freshman in the whole high school, right?" I asked as I tried to remember as much as I could about him.

"Second youngest actually," he corrected me as I heard series of loud laughs coming from the staircase. I looked over to again see that guy who beat Steve way back. He was parading down to the lobby with only three of his friends this time. _I guess one of them couldn't keep up!_ I proudly thought while I turned back to Andre.

"Are you going to be at the practice duels?" I asked him as an incredibly tall guy dressed entirely in black drifted past me, listening to some loud, disturbing music on his headphones. It was obviously another rare hunter. Seriously- buy Metal Raiders booster packs if you want a Black Skull Dragon that badly. Don't take someone else's; it's wrong! Just then, I remembered that I had asked Andre a question and looked at him again, only he had been looking at that guy, too. "I hate rare hunters," he told me. "I love to duel against and crush them just so they know not to mess with any random kid they see expecting an easy win. Someday I hope to take out their master, whoever he or she is," he seriously said.

"Hey, what time IS it, anyway?" Doug asked aloud. I noticed that he had put his deck away.

"It's ten to 7," Jack said as he nudged Doug and pointed to the clock on the top of the wall over the receptionist's desk. "Hey, let's get back to the room. I need to prepare my deck. I've weighed out new possibilities for making a stronger deck, and gotta test them out. You up for a practice duel, Doug?" Jack asked.

"Sure, why not? I'll incinerate you!" he taunted.

"I'm gonna go back to my room," Andre started as he walked ahead of us. "I'll need quiet if I'm to get ready for more duels tonight," he said as he looked at Jack and Doug.

"See ya later!" I said as we all went to where we needed to be.


	12. Tournament Stories part 12

Tournament Stories part 12

"Hmm… which card could I substitute for my Mystical Elf (800/2000)?" I said to myself as I heard the sounds of Doug lowly laughing. Wondering why he could be laughing even though he was losing by quite a few life points, I made the effort to crawl to the foot of my bunk, almost falling off in the process, and look at his hand. I saw Salamandra, Molten Destruction, Darkfire Soldier #1 (1700/1150), and some magic card I didn't recognize. It looked like a clown with cards in his hands, rapidly shuffling them. But it didn't take a genius to realize what he was planning. Figuring that this could get interesting, I reached back for my deck and spare cards and continued with my replacements. I looked for other monsters with 2000 defense points and my eye caught another Island Turtle. It was the same level and had 300 more attack points than the Mystical Elf. So I figured, why not. I put him in my deck and put the spellcaster into my "good-useless backup deck."

Continuing my deck alterations, I was also paying attention to Doug and Jack's duel. Jack saw me while it was still Doug's turn. He caught my attention and I looked up from my two sets of cards. While Doug's head was down, Jack pointed at me, his lips, himself, his hand of cards and then finally Doug to ask me, "Tell me what's in Doug's hand." I shook my head no as Doug made his next move, "I'm putting Darkfire Soldier #1 (1700/1150) in attack mode and changing the field to fire by playing the field magic card Molten Destruction! All fire type monsters get an attack boost of 500 points, and a defense loss of 400 points. And I also equip him with Salamandra, which raises his attack by 700 to 2900!" Doug triumphantly said. "Whatever. You're still gonna waste your attack," Jack said as he quickly took a look at the top card in his graveyard. "Right. Now I'm attacking your life points directly," Doug said as he held his card up and made in an X motion in front of Jack to signify a direct attack. "Activate trap card," Jack calmly said. "It's time for my favorite life point recovery card- Nutrient Z!" Jack stated as he flipped over the familiar looking trap card.

"What's that thing do?" Doug asked as he put his soldier back into its spot.

"If I'm about to take damage of 2000 points or more, I can activate this card. Before I receive any of that damage. I increase my life points by a whopping 4000 ufirst/u, then lose life points! I told you that you'd waste your attack. If anything, you've increased my life points, not damaged them," Jack gleefully said as Doug made a groaning noise in his throat. "So I'll get the math out of the way and add 1100 to my life points…" Jack said as he tapped away at his scientific calculator. He explained to me earlier that it was the only one in his house before the tournament, so he had to bring it. He was hardly a nerd. "That brings my life point total to 5000! Is your turn over?" he asked.

"Sure, why not?" Doug said as he leaned back against the bunk. I took this opportunity to look back at my cards and sort them out some more as Jack was looking at his hand. I actually finished my alterations of my deck before Jack began his turn!

"Okay! It's my standby phase, heh... And I'm activating one of my face down cards, Non Aggression Area. Its effect has me discard one card from my hand to the graveyard to prevent you from normal summoning, setting, AND special summoning on your next turn. So what monster you have on the field now is the only one you'll have until your turn after your next turn, get it?" Jack said slyly.

"Yeah, I get it. I've got that card too," Doug sighed.

"Me too," I chimed in as I put my deck in my special case and put that in my pack.

Doug looked behind him and titled up his head to see me looking down upon them both. "You better not be telling Jack what cards are in my hand, (my name)," complained Doug.

"Don't worry, I'm not," I replied as Jack continued his turn, "SO! I think I'll end my turn by summoning Woodland Sprite (900/400). Your move," intimidated Jack. Doug couldn't believe what just happened

"You're just leaving it in attack mode like that?!??" Doug exclaimed.

"What- you don't think it's a good idea?" asked Jack. He obviously had something planned. It was obvious to even Doug.

"But…? Forget it. I'll just draw and attack your puny plant with my soldier. Get ready to lose 2000 life points!" Doug said as he lifted his card up and placed it under Jack's sprite.

"That's where you are wrong! I'm activating Reverse Trap! Once activated, it REVERSES any and all increases and decreases to attack and defense. So since your equip and field cards boosted your soldier's original 1700 up by 1200, that 1200 now turns to subtracting and it's taken away from his 1700 leaving him at a measly 500 attack. As for his defense, since Molten Destruction brought it down to 750 from 1150, it's now added to make his defense a sturdy 1550! Finally, since you've declared an attack on my plant card, his attack is 400 more than your soldier, so your card is destroyed and you lose 400 life points!" Jack had perfectly countered his opponent's attack! _Wow. Once Jack is in the lead, he holds onto it!_ I thought as Doug put his destroyed cards in the graveyard and tapped at his calculator, bringing his life points down to an ironic 1550. "For my main phase two, I'll set this magic/trap card face down," Doug replied scarily confidently as I looked at the clock. It was 8:54! I interrupted the duel before Jack could draw, "I'm going to head down to that room now. The practice duels begin at nine, and I want to have early pickings for opponents. I'll see you later. Oh, and tell me who wins!" I said as I walked out the door. I didn't mean to appear rude, but that's how I seem sometimes… About two steps down the hallway, I distinctively heard Doug's voice, "Ha, YES! You're done for!"

"Doug and his flaming army does it again!" I sarcastically said to myself with a laugh as the hallway emptied out with the sounds of me going down the steps.

Walking across the main lobby, I was shocked to see an actual practice duel going on INSIDE the lobby. But what shocked me even more were the duelists. It was the janitor I had once seen before versus the short blonde-haired lady! I stopped in my tracks and watched a bit of the duel along with others scattered about the lobby.

"I'll set two cards face down and end my turn," the janitor guy said.

"Not a bad move, Cal. But I'm surprised that you've kept your minion in attack mode…" the blonde-haired lady said. Both players at this point had four cards in their hands. They also each had 3400 life points, somehow along with one monster and two magic/trap cards. It was strange.

"My turn," she said. She drew a card and looked at it for a long time. It must have had a long description, or her eyesight was failing. Either way, I found myself getting bored, for some reason. But I watched for a few more short seconds before moving towards the door. "Alright, I'm flipping this magician of faith for a tribute summon. But first, I revive a magic card. Then I'm tribute summoning the monster Pumpking the King of Ghosts (1800/2000) in attack mode! Now attack his Winged Minion!"

"That's what you think, Linda. I'm activating the trap card –" and the loud door slammed behind me. As I expected, many duelists were already in the center talking to each other, slowly breaking apart from the group as they agreed on where to duel in this ridiculously enormous room. It still smelled something like cigars and was about as dim as before with that same square of dusty light in the center. And once again, the window above was looking down at all of us. Only this time, the rain bombarding it made it appear to be crying. But I wondered if the use of dueling arenas than pods were practical in this room. How can the duelists hear each other over everybody else? I'd soon find out!!

"Hey, (my name)!"

"Hi Doug, hey Jack. Who won?" I asked as Jack let out a sigh.

"**I** did, of course! There isn't a duelist alive that can take on my cards of fire!" Doug sophomorically stated.

"Is thaaat a faaact…?" I challenged him, purposely dragging out the a's in that and fact.

"Care to prove me wrong?" Doug asked.

"This should be good," Jack commented. Just then, some girl walked by. Seeing Jack looking at the two of us, she said, "HEY! You wanna duel? Come on, let's go!" She commanded happily as her gleeful eyes shone with positive energy. All the while she was dragging him along by the pulled-up sleeves of his shirt. Doug and I both shared a laugh as we went in search of an arena. We found one and rose up on the elevator things. Just then, we expected to see glowing zones ready for us to place down cards. But no lights were on inside the stands. I tried putting a monster in attack mode, but I heard no sound, I saw no monster. Everyone else noticed this as well. All the arenas were full! Yet that's just what the machines were waiting for.

The dueling arenas, one by one, began to slowly sink beneath the ground. Ours began to shake and rattle like an earthquake was coming. And soon enough, ours was slowly descending into the ground too. I was shamelessly nervous. I mean, we're going INTO the GROUND. There's something to be said for panic. But there was something about the slow speed at which we were traveling that made it seem not as bad.

Eventually it stopped with our arena about 10 feet below the floor level. I said something to Doug, and he heard it perfectly! They took care of the noise issue. The platforms booted themselves up. And even though we were below the floor, there was enough light to see the spots to put our decks for shuffling, just like during the preliminaries. I shuffled his deck, and he shuffled mine. They returned to us, unharmed- amazing. The duel had begun!

"I'll let you go first," I said. I offered him to go first because this whole tournament I felt pretty guilty being first almost every time.

"Great!" Doug said as he separated two cards from his hand, "I'm setting one card in defense mode, and putting one magic/trap card face down on the field."

"My move. First, I draw a sixth card," I began as I looked at my full hand: Waboku, Sangan, Magician of Faith, Sword of Deep-Seated, Non-Aggression Area, and Horn of the Unicorn. _Oh, come ON! I can't beat Doug like THIS!_ I thought, "I'm putting two cards face down and this in defense mode," I said as he drew another card.

"I'll sacrifice what I've got here to tribute summon my Tyhone #2 (1700/1900)! Now he's attacking your face down card!" he commanded his dragon, if that's what it could be called. It was really tiny and red with yellow wings. It looked like a popped, sunburned balloon that spat fire and burned away my Sangan, whose effect I quickly used.

I calmly searched through my deck for a good enough monster with less than 1500 attack points. It was a tough choice, but I eventually ended up choosing my very own Mucus Yolk. I had one in my "good-useless backup deck" back at the hotel. But once I realized how useful it is, I made room for it to work in my deck. So I put it in my hand and reshuffled my deck.

"Before you begin your next turn, I'd like to place this card face down to end mine," he said as another magic/trap card accompanied his first one.

I drew my Giant Soldier of Stone and considered my options. _I've got a Mucus Yolk and TWO equip magic cards all ready to go to do some serious damage to his life points. But his Tyhone #2 would be stronger than it even with his equipped cards._ I put my mucus yolk at the edge of my hand to be used later. "I'm summoning my Giant Soldier of Stone and equipping him with the Horn of the Unicorn, raising his attack and defense by 700 points! So now he can destroy your dragon card. Giant soldier, slice his tyhone in two!" Following my orders, my soldier took his sword out of his holster and slowly threw it at his dragon yet with huge power. It made full contact and passed right through it, boomeranging right to my soldier. He caught it with a loud crash. Little pieces of rock dropped to the ground while he slid it back into his holster. Then he remained still.

"Looks like I take the first damage of this duel," Doug said as his life points went down to 3700. "But now it's my turn," he stated while he drew a card. "I'm activating the magic card Tremendous Fire! You lose 1000 life points, whereas I only lose 500."

Suddenly, gigantic shockwaves of flames erupted from the center of the field. They must have reached all the way up to the floor of the room above us- this was one of the most awesome displays I've ever seen so far this whole tournament. I remembered that Z.K. played one, but those duel discs had limited capabilities. These bright orange rings started small in the center but grew taller and faster as the approached each of us. Though some of them vanished gradually before even touching Doug. Ten touched me, only five made contact with him yet none of them hurt, and I was glad for that; fire is painful.

"Ahhh…" Doug heaved a relaxed sigh as my life points sunk to 3000. His weren't too far behind at 3200. "Finally, I'm putting this card in defense mode- ending my turn," he said.

"Very well," I stared at his defense card, wondering what it could be while I drew my next card- Rush Recklessly. "I'm putting this magic/trap card face down…" I paused for a second considering what card Doug may have hidden. _Doug is a fire duelist. And they tend to have cards in their deck that go with burner type decks as well, like Z.K. So what card would he put face down for me to- OH! It could quite possibly be a Lady Assailant of Flames. That's the ONLY card that Z.K. set down. Luckily, I won before he could activate her effect. But whether that's the card Doug set or not, I'm not attacking._ I finished thinking and said, "But I choose not to attack."

"Fine, my turn." He said as he drew a card. "BINGO!" he yelled spontaneously. "You're not going to like this at ALL!" Doug laughed as he took two cards from his hand, "First I'm putting my Robotic Knight (1600/1800) in attack mode. Next, I'll flip summon my Lady Assailant of Flames" _Damn it. I was right._ "and activate her effect. By removing from play the top three cards from my deck, I inflict 800 points of direct damage towards you!" he happily declared as my life points beeped to a kind of low 2200. "You're 45% dead!" he said. There was silence for a noticeable second before he continued with his turn. "Also, I'm activating this magic card Giant Trunade! With this card, I can return all magic and traps to their owner's hands, well, excluding my Giant Trunade. But I'll set my two cards face down again and attack your giant soldier with my Lady Assailant of Flames (1500/1000)!" With her dagger, she took giant leaps forward and leapt high into the air. The blade reflected the low light in this room onto her target. She dove down and clearly slashed through my stone soldier. He collapsed with a huge thud and disappeared from the field, bringing my life points down to an even 2000. "We're not done yet! Robotic Knight, attack his life points… DIRECTLY!" With a buzz of affirmative action, his machine's eyes glowed a brighter green. I could see a dark green crosshair slowly drifting from his robot across the field and fix right on my platform. He swiftly pointed his gattling gun at me and fired. A yellow barrage of bullets collided with my platform, making sounds of metal being pierced and small explosions. My whole platform vibrated as my life points diminished to a dangerously low 400. He still had his 3200. "Uh oh. You better think of something to do quick or you'll never get my life points down any further!" Doug boldly taunted.

"I'm not too worried about that," I snapped back as I drew my next card: _SHARE THE PAIN?!?? Why me…? Oh well. At least I can discard it since I have more than six cards in my hand._ I thought as I got rid of Share the Pain and Non Aggression Area.

"Here comes my comeback!" I amicably said while I prepared five of the six cards in my hand, "First off, I'm setting two cards face down. Next, I'm summoning Mucus Yolk (0/100) in attack mode!" I was interrupted by Doug laughing. "AHA HA HA HA HA! Mucus Yolk? It's got zero attack and a mere one hundred defense! That card must be more useless than Share the Pain! Ha ha ha…." I groaned and thought _That's your opinion._ "Anyway, next I'm equipping him with Sword of Deep-Seated and Horn of the Unicorn, brining his attack to 1200," "THAT's not enough to take out either one of my monsters, (my name)," he said a bit disappointed.

"Hey, you're right! Oh well. It looks like I'll just have to directly damage your life points, then- HA HA HA!" I said as he watched my glob gathered a tiny ball of white light within itself. It grew larger and larger, making a low, but audible noise of something being charged up. But in the blink of an eye, a blinding light filled the whole arena as a focused beam of white power plowed into his platform, shaking it torrentially. "Ahhh!! How is this happening??" he demanded. "It's his effect. His effect lets me directly attack you once per turn. And here's the best part, at my next standby phase his attack will increase by 1000, and will continue to grow, as long as he attacks, at every standby phase. "Rrrghh…" he grumbled as his life points beeped down to 2000. "But your next standby phase is a turn away. It won't last through my next turn," he drew a card. "Now I sacrifice my lady assailant to summon Twin-Headed Fire Dragon (2200/1700) to cause you 1000 points of damage- more than enough to take you out!" Doug said as his weird dragon turned its heads at my blob of jelly just wiggling around seemingly oblivious. They both took deep breaths and exhaled huge streams of red, white, and orange devastation. It sure was cool to watch, but I wasn't about to let that hit my monster, "I activate Waboku! It protects me for the rest of this turn!" Just then, protecting my Mucus Yolk was a clear bubble that the fire seemed to pass around and burn the ground. As soon as the orange and red light dissipated, it was my turn. So I drew one of my newer cards: Poison of the Old Man. _Hey, cool magic effect!_ I thought as I set it down and prepared to end this duel. "Wait, you switched your Robotic Knight to defense mode?" I asked as I noticed his machine in a crouching position with his head down and sword pointed into the ground with his gattling gun arm lowered. "Of course. Your Mucus Yolk is too powerful for it by now," as his attack shot up to 2200, "So he's better off in defense mode so I don't lose life points," he said as I considered what I should do next.

_I could definitely take him out right now because of his effect and his attack points higher than Doug's life points. But that's not how I would want to be defeated, by some monster effect. I think I'll attack his knight._ "And now my monster will attack your Robotic Knight!" I declared. My aqua card aimed its eye at his shiny metal monster and gathered a more intense beam of power within itself and unleashed its destructive power. "HA! Gotcha now! I'm activating a quick-play magic card: The Reliable Guardian. He increases my knight's defense by 700 points, bringing it to 2500!" "Yeah? Well, I'm activating one of MY quick play magic cards called Rush Recklessly. It increases my monster's ATTACK by 700, brining his total to 2900! So your knight is destroyed! And while we're in this chain, I think I'll activate another quick play magic card called Poison of the Old Man. It gives me two choices. I can either damage you directly for 800 points, or increase my own life points by 1200. I'm increasing my life points to 1600!" And during all of that, the white light faded and intensified as the quick plays were activated. It was a bright show and eventually overpowered his machine. "To end my turn, I'll set this monster in defense mode because I haven't played a monster yet," I said as I set my Magician of Faith. "So now that we're practically neck and neck now, how are you going to spend your next turn?" I asked while he drew. "I'm doing nothing. Your monster's and my monster's attack points are equal. And since you didn't inflict any damage, your Mucus Yolk's won't go up next turn. So I'll end my turn now," he said. "Alright," I drew my Bait Doll and looked at his only face down magic/trap card on the field. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I played it. "I'm activating the magic card Bait Doll. It forces the activation of one face down trap card. If the activation isn't at a correct time, the trap card is negated and destroyed. If it's not a trap card, it's returned to its original position. So I think I'll force the activation of your card, there," I said as he flipped it over. It was Destruction Punch. "Yeah, if you hadn't played Rush Recklessly, I would have activated this last turn and destroyed your Mucus Yolk. But now it's destroyed, so I don't need to worry," Doug said while I returned Bait Doll to my deck and reshuffled it, like its effect requires me to do. "Is it my turn?" he asked. I nodded my head.

"Okay," he drew and put a card in defense mode.

I drew my Change of Heart and wasted no time. This duel was about to end, "I'm playing Change of Heart to take control of your dragon. Next, I flip my Magician of Faith to bring back a magic card. Now, I'm activating that magic card, Share the Pain! It forces both of us to offer a monster on our sides of the field as a tribute. I'm offering my Mucus Yolk." I said as I waited for him to take his only monster off the field. "At least I didn't lose by much- this monster I just sacrificed has a flip effect. It's the Fire Sorcerer (1000/1500). And if I remove two cards in my hand from play, I can inflict 800 points of damage to you, which brings you down to 800," he said as he emptied his field AND his hand. My life points went down to 800 after an image of a disappearing woman dressed in black with ice blue eyes pointed a fist at me and launched fire missiles. But I simply attacked him with his dragon, and I won.

As he helplessly watched his life points sink to zero, a light above me began to grow brighter and brighter. I had noticed it over Doug's head when my life points were at 400. At that time, the light was kind of bright. But it dimmed away as soon as I activated my Poison of the Old Man card to increase my life points by 1200. But as his life points dropped, the light above me shone brighter and brighter. I faintly head someone above us yell, "WHAT is going on down there?!" I laughed a little as soon as his life points hit zero. And the light was fully turned on. I gazed up to see where it was coming from. Above I could see a pair of two lights each fixated over either side of the dueling field. _I guess there was some sort of computer chip within them set to get brighter as the other side's life points go down._ I thought as I heard four loud clicks. The first three were in rhythm, but the fourth one was a bit delayed. But all of a sudden, the arena shook and rattled as machinery quietly pushed it up to the floor again. But the light was still relentlessly shining on me. As soon as it stopped, I heard a voice behind me say, "Congratulations! Now if you'll please come this way, the first round winners are to go through here, thank you!" a man said as he dashed off to another rising platform. I looked over at Doug seeing another man running toward the same platform. "What did he tell you?" I said a bit louder than in our duel. "He told me just to wait for further instructions. You?" he bounced the question back at me. "That guy told me to go that way," I said as I pointed my left finger at the man talking to a duelist whose light wasn't on and pointed to a door with my right hand that the man had showed me. "Alright, see ya!" Doug said as I waved goodbye with a single motion and walked to the door.

Admittedly, I was very nervous on my way there because it was a room I had never noticed before even when the pods were here. However, I bravely walked on and quickly opened the door surprised to see nobody there that I knew, well, except for Jonathon. I very much expected to see him there. And in a room of only ten or so people, it wasn't hard to take a glance at the person who had just walked into the room. Jonathon strolled over and talked to me but making sure to keep his distance. It became clear to me that he knew nobody in this room, either.

"You again…." He began in an annoyed voice.

"Me again?" I replied.

"Doing okay in this tournament?" he asked with a detectable note of negativity. But even so, I almost fell to the ground after hearing these words of near-caring.

"Uh…" I started, still a bit surprised, "I'm doing fine. I guess you're doing well, huh?" I said back as he took a half step back.

"I'm doing BETTER than fine. So YOU better watch out in our next duel. The only reason why you won in that virtual one is because I used my emergency deck by mistake. It's less powerful," he complained.

"Right, right- what's a Summoned Skull AND a Dark Necrofear doing in the supposed "greatest fiend duelist"'s emergency deck, huh?" I asked as I resented him being a fiend duelist. The fiend type is my favorite type of monster and it sickens me knowing that my enemy likes using them just as much.

"I have more than one Summoned Skull and my Dark Necrofear was in there because I was visualizing options for the future of my real dueling deck!" he snapped back. It was very believable.

I sarcastically said to him, "Oh so THAT'S why I snapped you like a large twig!" and I laughed as he made an angry face at me.

Just then, the short blonde-haired lady, or should I say Linda, walked into the room. Instantly, one of the other guys in the room asked, "So who won?"

"What kind of dumb question IS that? I won, of course! It was like that janitor was just handed a duel disc and sloppily put together a deck and challenged me. There was no challenge at all, boys… and girls," she said as she looked around at the few of us, "okay good. We have fifteen." Then she went silent and walked back out of the room. She didn't even bother to close the door on her way in. She was just interested in a head count so far.

I took the time to look at the room. Within it were four tables built into the ground shaped like octagons. The carpet unbrokenly continued up and over them and over the tables' surfaces. It was like they just sprouted up from the ground and the carpet just bent around it. I found it quite strange.

Then I looked at the people. The rare hunters more or less stood out with their generally dark clothing. But I had a few suspicions about some of the ones who weren't in black. The one who stood out of all of them was the one Andre and I saw back in the lobby. He was still very tall and had yellow hair contrasting with his black clothing. Then I got a thought, _I wonder if some of the goths in our school are actually rare hunters?_ I thought as Linda followed Jack, surprisingly, into the room.

Taking a few steps away from Jon, I said hi to Jack. His eyes fell on the odd-shaped tables for a second before he said hello to me.

"Okay, people. Let's get this over with," and the room went quiet. Linda was giving us instructions on what to do, "You sixteen are probably the ones most likely to finish strongly in this whole tournament. But anyway, see these tables? Yeah, you and someone else will be dueling as a team against another team. One player will stand at each diagonal side. The turns alternate. It would go, you, the first duelist of your opponents, your partner, then the second opponent duelist. If you draw a card, such as The Dark Door that would change the normal rules to anything like Duelist Kingdom rules, discard it to the graveyard and draw a new card. You may activate trap or quick play magic cards if your partner is being attacked. And you may use one of your monsters to defend your partner if they are about to be attacked directly. And the rules are as follows just because we want to get this over with quickly. You all begin with only 2000 life points," instantly, gasps of shock came from about half the duelists. "If you or your partner loses all their life points, the one left must continue on. The first attack may not be made until everyone has taken his or her first turn. And you can only attack once per battle phase, much like duelist kingdom," she said as she whizzed across the paper she was reading from. "Okay! I'm pretty sure you all know how it works, then. So find yourself a partner, a set of opponents and get a good night's sleep tonight!" she finished as she leaned against a wall and watched us all disperse.

"Jack?" I asked.

"Without question," he replied while we tried to make eye contact with a group.

"Hey! Over here! Duel us, won't you?" a girl within a group of her and a guy asked. We accepted, shuffled each other's decks, chatted a bit and began the duel. The guy's name was Alex. The girl introduced herself quite politely as Christina.

"Who goes first?" I asked. Everyone looked at me. "Why not you?" Alex suggested. Everybody else nodded in agreement. "Uh… alright, then!" I said as I drew six cards. I discarded my Soul Exchange to the graveyard because it talks about tribute summons. This is a duel by Duelist Kingdom rules.

In my first hand was Bait Doll, Share the Pain, Princess of Tsurugi, Witch of the Black Forest, Wall of Illusion, and Mystic Plasma Zone.

"I'll play this field card Mystic Plasma Zone. It raises the attack power of all dark monsters by 500 points and decreases their defense by 400," I said as I put my field card in the center spot of the carpeted table marked for field cards. "Next, I'm putting Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) in attack mode. Her attack rises to 1600 because of my field card. It's your turn now, Alex," I said as he drew a sixth card.

"I'll put one card in defense mode and activate Dark Designator. This card lets me do some sneaky deeds, indeed. I'll say a monster card's name. If one or more of that card is in your deck, you must take one and put it in your hand, not shuffling afterward. So let's see… If either of you have a Magician of Faith, bring one of her to your hand, please," so Jack and I sifted through our decks and found one and put her in our hands. "Thanks! Now prepare to lose her! I'm activating Card Destruction! We all must discard our whole hand to the graveyard and draw from our decks the same number of cards we got rid of!" he proudly said. It was quiet for a few seconds as we all drew new hands and listened to the chatter and playful laughs among the other duelists, mostly boys, before we heard Jack said, "Uh…?" and we all looked at him. "I've got a few effect monsters here," he began as he reached back into his graveyard. "First, this card called Electric Snake lets me draw two additional cards if it's sent from my hand directly to the graveyard by a card effect of my opponent," he said as he drew two additional cards adding to his hand of six, making it eight. "Secondly, since my Minar has been sent from my hand to the graveyard, um, you lose 1000 life points…" he said a bit embarrassed. "WHAT!" he said sharply. "Alright!" I said excitedly. "Oh dear," Christina said as she picked her head up from examining her new hand. "RRggghh," Alex groaned.

"My turn?" Jack asked. He received an affirmative nod and drew a ninth card. "I'll discard three now," he assertively stated as he quickly got rid of three into his graveyard. "Now, I'm playing Dian Keto the Cure Master, giving me 1000 life points. Next, I'm setting one magic/trap card face down and summoning Dancing Fairy (1700/1000) to end my turn," he said as he looked across the table to Christina.

"First, I draw. Next, I'll boost EVERYone's life points by 1000 by playing Rain of Mercy! Now I'll play the magic card Giant Trunade which returns all magic and traps to their owners' hands. Finally, I'll set one monster. It's your turn, (my name)."

I had a killer hand! But my hand had seven, so I discarded my Karate Man because it wasn't too useful for the moment. The rest of my hand contained Tribute to the Doomed, Cyber Jar, Mask of Darkness, La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, Mystic Plasma Zone, and my favorite monster card!

"I'm replaying my Mystic Plasma Zone and summoning La Jinn (1800/1000). His attack power goes up to 2300!" I then paused for a second and thought that I could easily take out Alex right now by using my Tribute to the Doomed Card and attack his life points directly. I was very tempted. But this is the duel's first attack. It wouldn't be too nice if I were to take him out before he could even attack at least once. "I'm attacking your defense monster with my La Jinn," I said as I flipped his defense card over with the corner of my fiend card. It was the Molten Behemoth (1000/2200). And it turns out I'm too nice…

"Hmph, MY turn!" Alex a bit angrily while he drew a card. "Alright!" his face perked up, "I'm summoning Ryu-Ran (2200/2600) in attack mode. Next, I'm playing the magic card common to many fire duelists' decks Tremendous Fire! You and Jack lose 1000 life points. I only lose 500," the scores stood at Jack and Christine with 3000. I had 2000. Alex had 1500. "And here's the best part. I'm equipping Salamandra to Ryu-Ran raising his attack to 2900! Now I attack your Witch of the Black Forest to inflict maximum damage on you, ha ha ha!" he laughed as he flipped over my spellcaster numerous times- right into my graveyard. My life points were drained to 700, but I was glad because now I could get a monster with 1500 defense or fewer into my hand. I explained the card's effect aloud and took my Summoned Skull into my hand and shuffled my deck. "You guys are losing," Alex said. "Only by 800 life points," Jack said back as he drew a card to start his turn. "I'm setting three additional cards face down, switching my Dancing Fairy to defense mode and summoning Harpie's Brother (1800/600)! Your move, Christina," he said.

_That was quick._ I thought. _I hope he didn't rush that move without thinking about it…_ "First I'm drawing a card. Now, I'm setting one card in face down defense mode-" "Activate trap card!" Jack interrupted her as soon as she put the card on the carpeted table. Right at that moment, I noticed that this table had no legs and just appeared to have spurt out of the ground. "It's called Acid Trap Hole. When you set a monster in face down defense, it's flipped face up. Then if its defense is equal to or lower than 2000, it is immediately destroyed!" he demanded. "Fine…" she calmly said as she flipped over a Yomi Ship (800/1400). If any of your monsters were to send it to the graveyard, the monster that destroyed IT would be sent to the graveyard as well. But it's no matter. Now I'm removing it from play to special summon Aqua Spirit (1600/1200) in attack mode. Finally, I'll set one card face down to end my turn," she said as she signaled it to be my turn.

I drew my Spear Cretin, "It's your standby phase now, so I'm activating my Aqua Spirit's effect," Christina said out of nowhere. "During my opponent's standby phase, I can switch the battle position of one of my opponent's face up monsters. So I'm changing Jack's Dancing Fairy to attack mode so he doesn't get a 1000 life point boost like he would have if it had been kept in face up defense mode during his own standby phase." Jack looked, surprised at me as I looked across the table at Alex and Christina as they giggled a little bit, "Sorry Jack. I've got that card too. But anyway, you may continue your turn now," she said to me. "Alright! I'm summoning Summoned Skull (2500/1200) to the field in attack mode. And his attack shoots up to 3000 because of Mystic Plasma Zone! I'm attacking your Ryu-Ran with my fiend, Alex, to inflict 100 damage to your life points," as I flipped his card over with mine. "Whatever," he said as I set my Tribute to the Doomed down. It turns out I'm STILL too nice…

"My turn now," he said and drew a card, quite happy with the result. I'm summoning Spirit Ryu (1000/1000) in attack mode. And now this is your defeat, (my name). I activate Dragon's Gunfire!" "Gah!" I was completely panic-stricken after he played that card. My life points were only at 700, and I knew just what effect of his magic card he'd choose to activate. There was absolutely nothing I could do. I looked at Jack with wide eyes. He calmly glanced diagonally to the left ahead of him directly at Alex's dragon and nodded slightly with a straight face. "-I'm obviously activating the damage option. Prepare to lose the rest of your life points, (my name)!" he said louder than normal. "Not really," Jack interjected. "I'm activating the trap card Trap Hole. As the latest part in this chain, it destroys an opponent's normally summoned monster with 1000 attack points or more. You dragon just makes the cut. Now trap cards' "speed" is faster than normal magic cards, so it cancels out your card before its effect can take its course. So both those cards are sent to the graveyard, and my friend here is saved!" Jack finished as Alex angrily agreed with Jack, "Grr… you're right…" So he cleared his field.

"My turn," and Jack drew a card. "It's your standby phase which means I'm activating my Aqua Spirit's effect again. This time, I'm switching (my name)'s Summoned Skull into defense mode. That's it." "Okay, I'm first changing my Dancing Fairy BACK into defense mode. And now I'm summoning Curse of Dragon (2000/1500) in attack mode. His attack gets boosted to 2500 because of his field card. And now I attack, with Harpie's Brother, Alex's life points directly!" Jack happily said as Alex made a disgusted face as he prepared to remove his cards from the table. "Nope!" Christina flipped her face down card. "I'm activating my trap card Waboku. All damage done to him is reduced to zero. You wasted your attack, Jack," she laughed at how it rhymed.

"Alright, time to start taking sheer control of this duel," Christina said as she drew. "I'm playing the ritual magic card Turtle Oath! In order to summon my Crab Turtle, I must offer monsters whose level stars total 8. So it's a sad goodbye to my Aqua Spirit and hidden Island Turtle to call forth my Crab Turtle (2550/2500)! And now I'll have him attack (my name)'s Skull, destroying it!" she happily flipped my card over with hers. I wasn't mad one bit, though!

"Here I go," I said as I instantly flipped over my Tribute to the Doomed before even looking at the card I drew. "I play Tribute to the Doomed! I discard one card from my hand to destroy one monster on the field. I'm sending my Mask of Darkness to the Graveyard as a tribute to get rid of your Turtle!" I said as all three of the others gaped in amazement. "Why didn't you play that earlier?" Jack asked. "I was saving it for a dangerous time," I replied as I continued with my turn. I looked at the card I drew: Offerings to the Doomed. _Heh… kind of ironic_ I thought as I set my Spear Cretin and Offerings to the Doomed face down and attacked Christina directly, carefree, because there were no trap cards out. She now had the same amount of life points as me: 700

"(My name) and I have taken definite control of this duel!" Jack said as Alex drew a card. His face remained unchanged as he set it in defense mode.

"Alright, my turn. I draw, and I now I can finally get the benefits of my Dancing Fairy card being in face up defense mode during my standby phase. My life points increase by 1000. And now I'll activate the card I just drew, Dimensionhole. It lets me remove one of my monsters from play until my NEXT standby phase. I choose my Dancing Fairy so I can increase my life points again next turn," said Jack as Christina calmly drew a card. It was like she had something hidden all along.

"I set this in defense mode," she said.

I drew my Nobleman of Crossout and got an easy idea, "I'm playing Nobleman of Crossout to destroy Christina's face down monster and remove it from play. If the destroyed monster has a flip effect, we all search our decks and remove from play the same monster and shuffle them. Otherwise, nothing," so she flipped over and removed from play a Serpentine Princess, leaving her field empty. "And now I attack her life points directly with La Jinn!" I said. "Oh dear…" she trailed off as she backed away from the table, leaving all her cards there. "Crap, I'm all alone now," Alex said. "You get to take her turn now," Linda, the short blonde-haired lady walked by.

"Heh, fine. My turn!" Alex drew a card and smiled… quite evilly. "First I'm flip summoning my Aitsu (100/100)!" He continued before Jack and I could comment, "And now I play Monster Reborn to revive Christina's Koitsu (200/100)! HA HA HA, now prepare yourself for complete annihilation! Koitsu is what is called a "union card." It's kind of like an equip card that can be equipped to a monster instead of being a monster if I choose. And that's exactly what I'm doing! I'm forming a union by equipping my Aitsu with her Koitsu. Due to one of Koitsu's numerous effects, Aitsu gets an attack AND defense boost of 3000 points!!! That's not bad for a fairy card… Now I attack your defense monster, (my name)." He said as I was shocked by such smooth playing as he flipped over my Spear Cretin (500/500). "And here's the best part," he added. "When the equipped monster destroys a defense monster with a lower defense than my card's attack, the difference is inflicted as battle damage to YOUR life points! Thanks to your field card, there, your Spear Cretin's defense is lowered to 100. Whereas my Aitsu's attack is exactly 3000 higher than that!! So you lost!" he beamed. "Not quite yet," Jack said as he swiftly flipped over his favorite life point recovery card, Nutrient Z! This is twice he saved my butt! "I'm activating it for him. He's about to take a 3000 point hit, that more than qualifies for the 2000 minimum. Before he takes that damage, his life points are increased by 4000 first, then damaged! So you just raised his life points to 1700, Alex!" Jack finished as he smiled toward me. _I knew it. It's just like in the hotel room. When Jack is in the lead, he holds onto it! …but wait! Didn't Jack lose that duel?_ I thought as I flashed back to the practice duel earlier today. "Anyway, you still destroyed my Spear Cretin," I said. So now we revive a monster from our graveyards in face up attack or face down defense." I chose my Summoned Skull. Jack and Alex both set monsters.

"My turn," Jack said confidently. After he drew, he placed his Dancing Fairy back on the field because Dimensionhole's effect wore of. And since it was his standby phase, his life points were boosted to 5000. "Well, I suppose I'll switch my Fairy to attack mode since it has more attack points and would inflict less damage on me if it were destroyed by Aitsu… Anyway, I'm flipping over my Magician of Faith that you sent to my graveyard to bring a magic card in the graveyard to my hand. And now I'll activate it!" Jack proudly said as he slapped a magic card down onto the table. "Mass Driver! When I offer one monster on my side as a tribute, I inflict 400 damage points to you! So let's begin with my Magician of Faith. I'll send her to the graveyard to bring your life points down to an even 1000, your move." Alex looked a bit worried.

"Fine. I'll draw this… and play it! Block attack! I get to switch one of your monster's position to defense. I'll choose Jack's Harpie's Brother, heh heh heh! And now I attack. And you receive 2500 points of damage because of the difference between my card's attack and your card's defense!" "Holy crap! That's half my life points wiped out in one attack!" Jack said in shock.

I drew my Black Pendant (The kid I lost my first black pendant to still has it. The one I just drew was given to me by my brother. And it's been in my deck ever since.) and got the idea of equipping it to my fiend monster to deter Alex from attacking my monster. Besides, it would boost La Jinn's power. As soon as I played it on the field, I could hear Jack make a surprised, happy gasp. Looking at him with a minorly furrowed brow and then back at Alex, I said, "I guess it's your turn, then."

He drew a card, set it below his face down monster, and looked, tempted, back and forth between my monster and Jack's monsters. His were weaker. And destroying one of his monsters would mean damage to him and decreasing his Mass Driver's threat. All he had to look at on my field were the two magic cards, and his mind was made up. "And now my Aitsu will attack your Dancing Fairy, Jack." With nothing to stand in its way, Alex flipped Jack's fairy card into the air, destroying it and causing Jack to lose 1400 life points, sending his total down to 1100. I don't know why, but something told me not to activate my Offerings to the Doomed Card yet. I felt so bad knowing that I could have destroyed this powerful monster at any time… It was now Jack's turn.

Jack drew a card an immediately summoned it. "It's my Invitation to a Dark Sleep (1500/1800). Once summoned, one of your monsters can't attack as long as it's face up on the field. I'm, of course, choosing your Aitsu. And its attack is boosted to 2000 because of (my name)'s field card. So I feel safer about sacrificing my Curse of Dragon to the graveyard so your life points can go down to 600! " He smirked. "It's a minor setback, really," Alex shrugged. "My turn?" he asked and Jack nodded.

"Wow, I forgot I even had this card in my deck," Alex commented as we both looked at him. He made a face at Jack's spellcaster and just kept the card he just drew, "(my name)'s turn!" he cheerfully said. With caution, I drew my next card, Change of Heart! I gleefully played it. But to my horror, Alex activated his face down trap card before I could pick up his Aitsu, "No. No, I don't think so. I'm activating Last Turn!" I quickly lifted my head up from my hand of cards to make sure he wasn't lying. But no, there it was- another Last Turn just like the one I have. I panicked because I know exactly what it does. After explaining what it does, Alex said, "But it really only works if there's one other opponent. So you two can decide who will special summon a monster from their deck," as he went silent to leave us to decide. We turned our backs on him and talked, "What do you think that face down monster is?" Jack asked. "It must either have very high defense or a good effect. Other than that, I can't make a guess," I replied. "Well, I'm not sure we want me to attack it. My strongest monster has an attack of only 2600. I know there are cards out there with a stronger defense than that," he stated. "Yeah, there's Labyrinth Wall, and some fire spirit card my brother has. It's quite rare. But anyway, I guess I'll attack if you feel uneasy about it," I said. I hoped he had forgotten about my Black Skull Dragon in my duel against Steve. I turned around and walked back to the "table" and picked up my deck, "I'll attack it," I said.

"Oh THAT'S right! You've got a-" I interrupted Jack, "Shut up!" I said very fast. It sounded like "Shdup!" Alex was watching me calmly go through what was left of my deck. I found my Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500) and smoothly placed it onto the field.

"Whoa!" he said. "…And now I attack, right?" I asked with a small smile. He just nodded as I flipped over his Wall Shadow (1600/3000). "Sorry, Alex, but 3200 attack beats 3000 defense. Looks like we win the duel!" I reported. Alex made a small, disappointed noise and walked out of the room with Christina. I then quickly put my dragon card back into my deck before anyone could see what I card I won the duel with.

"What next?" Jack asked as we weren't sure if we should stay in this room or leave.


	13. Tournament Stories part 13

_So what IS next?_ I thought to myself as I looked around the room. The winners of the duels that we all just took part in looked around the room and at each other as Linda walked in. She looked, confused, at all of us and said in a slightly higher voice than normal, "What are you all doing here? I told you all to get a good night's sleep before these duels began tomorrow, remember?" she finished with a weak laugh. Many of us were already headed to the door when she suddenly spoke, "Oh, WAIT!" we all stopped short anticipating some sort of reward. "I can provide you all with a little bit of info for the final five sets of duels tomorrow!" expecting to hear something better, some of us eight groaned, but we all walked back into the center of the room. She continued, "As you are some of the best performers tonight, I'm allowed to tell you all that for the last duels tomorrow. I know the receptionist told you that for the final five you'd be beginning with 4000 life points tomorrow, but I've been cleared to tell you all that everyone will be starting with 8000 life points again," and she made a twisted face halfway between a smile and a sneer. I guessed it was supposed to be a "Heh, heh… they're not going to like that" face. But to her surprise, nobody said anything. So she went on, "…okay?"

"Sure…"

"Fine!"

"Okay by me," I heard random voices about the room as we all turned around and left. I was the third to last to leave.

Reentering the main duel room, which would be used for the final sets of duels tomorrow, unless the rain stopped, I noticed half of the dueling platforms down in the ground again. Jack and I searched for Doug or Andre. We found Doug, who was having trouble with his current opponent. It was Andre, of all people! I, for some reason, got the impression that he wouldn't be going from our conversation at around seven earlier this night. Yet it looks like I was wrong.

But anyway, the light above Andre was pretty bright. Doug had a semi-bright light above him. Even though I couldn't see their life points from this high up, I estimated that Andre was winning by at least 1000. They both noticed our presence and Andre finished his turn, "I'll set this card face down, leave my Gearfried (1800/1600) in defense mode, and end my turn. Your move."

Doug's face, literally, lit up when he drew his next card, "I play the magic card Tremendous Fire! You lose 1000 life points. I only lose 500!" Both of their lights got brighter, but it now looked like Doug's was brighter. Those familiar orange rings erupted from the center again, shaking each side's platforms. From up here, the graphics didn't look too great. But I suppose it's only supposed to be for the duelists and not spectators above the duel. "And now I'll attack your monster there with," and he played a card in attack mode, "Darkfire Soldier #1 (1700/1150)!" His soldier dashed across the field up until the point in which Andre activated his face down card, "Offerings to the Doomed. At the cost of my next draw phase, I get to destroy one of your monsters!" he announced happily. As soon as he flipped over his quick-play magic card, an altar filled with bright, goldly glistening chalices and jewelry was put in front of his darkfire soldier. His soldier reached for one of the beautiful pieces. As soon as he touched it, a dark cloud came into view above his head and shrouded the whole altar. And within a few seconds, everything was gone.

"THAT is not how I'd have pictured that card!" Andre laughed as Doug placed one card face down.

"Alright, I can't draw. But I've got four cards in my hand anyway. So I'll switch my knight into attack mode and equip him with this-" Andre was holding the card in front of him as Doug interrupted him, "But any equip card attached to him is immediately destroyed, right?" "…Yes. I know," Andre continued. "I'm equipping him with Black Pendant. And since it's being destroyed, you lose 500 life points. Next, I'll set a monster, and then attack your life points with Gearfried!" His warrior clanked forth and used the huge blade fused onto his arm to slice through Doug's platform and bring his life points down to zero. We could tell because the arena was beginning to rise with the light only shining on Andre.

"Crap. I was hoping you'd think my face down card was a trap so you wouldn't attack. But good duel!" Doug said a few minutes later as we were all together again.

"So I guess tonight's events are over…" I mentioned as we all watched people spread out and exit the room. "Well, good luck, Andre. We'll see you tomorrow!" I said. He waved to us as he left before we did.

"Can't you just tell us what your favorite card is now? I've been thinking about it since I met you on the first day of this whole tournament!" Jack said while he scratched the back of his neck, tilting his head slightly to the left with an uneasy face.

"Ha ha ha! Alright, if it's that important to you. I'll tell you!" I agreed as his eyes widened and stood up straight. Doug was even listening. "My favorite monster card is…!" The looks on their faces were pathetically anxious. "Well, I HAVE been thinking about changing it to the Summoned Skull…" I purposely dragged out their needless anticipation. "Tell us already!" Doug complained. At last I cut them loose from their ropes of tension, "Neo the Magic Swordsman." (Light-Spellcaster), lvl 4, 1700/1000

Their faces suddenly looked disappointed. And that was the end of that.

"Think we should go back to our rooms and prepare for the final five duels tomorrow?" Andre suggested.

"Yeah, probably. Let's go," Doug replied. We made it up the stairs and said goodbye. "Don't forget that tomorrow we're using arenas and beginning with 4000 life points," Andre reminded us. _Hah, okay!_ I smugly thought to myself as Andre walked down the hall to his room.

I spent most of that night arranging my deck, filtering out cards that I didn't entirely need. These were the final five duels, after all. I didn't want to draw a Giant Soldier of Stone when I really needed something like a Change of Heart or Soul Exchange. So I don't know how I did it, but I managed to shorten my deck even more to an even 64 cards! I was fairly confident, but knew that it would get pretty ugly from here on out.

The next day, I woke up and noticed one of my Island Turtles at the foot of my bed that I forgot to put back in my pack. I stretched over and picked it up. I remember all the interesting times that this card used to provide. But I didn't feel the need to have it in my deck because these duels were serious now. Gazing up at the clock (which read 8:37) from my bunk, I considered losing the tournament today, only for a second, so that all these weirdoes after my Black Skull Dragon would stop hounding me. But then I thought about what that weird guy, who is yet to make a live appearance, said before this whole entire thing began. He said that the ultimate winner will be able to ask for anything he or she desires: cards, money, ANYthing, or so I assumed.

Ridding myself of these thoughts, I got out of bed and climbed down the ladder. I inspected my deck, put it in my pack and waited in a computer chair for a sensible time to go out into the lobby- I left five minutes later.

Silently, I traveled down the steps which made no noise to my surprise. Then I NOTICED the fact that no noise was being made anywhere, which meant that the rain had stopped and that I was either too early or too late. All the lights were on in the lobby, but the cranky receptionist wasn't at her desk. I began to panic and thought about running back up to the room. But from the side room with the loud door came the receptionist and Linda who were surprised to see anybody up so early.

"Didn't I see you with that one boy dueling against that team of fire and water?" Linda asked as she looked at me funny. Flashing back to the team duels yesterday, I remembered Alex and Christina with their powerful union cards Aitsu and Koitsu. It was a tough team. "Yeah, that was me," I replied.

"And you've got that Black Skull Dragon, right?" she asked as the receptionist looked up from her computer with a rather surprised look on her face.

I began to feel uncomfortable but wasn't really surprised that she knew. After all, she could have been walking around randomly surveying the duels every so often yesterday. "Uh… yes. I've got a Black Skull Dragon." I answered her slowly growing more and more paranoid.

Her face perked up, "Okay! I just wanted to know! Good luck today! Everyone should be down here soon," she cheerfully said.

…Uh, what? I thought nervously.

Soon enough, everybody was gathered in the lobby chattering away about this and that. Then Linda, that short blonde-haired lady, stormed in though the main doors and stood in front of the receptionist's desk. "It's time, everybody! The final five sets of duels will be taking place today!" Most of the duelists here cheered and clapped making the room sound like there was three times as many people in it. The commotion calmed down and she happily continued, "But they won't be happening at the same time. Instead, these duels will occur one at a time in the huge arena we've got setup on the island. If we're all ready, let's go!" she led the way as everyone followed her. I looked around the lobby for Andre, Doug or Jack. They were waiting for me out the door. I ran out and followed the others with them.

The air still smelled like rain as cool, refreshing breezes passed by. Among the bright sunlight and crisp sound of tree leaves rustling, Linda explained how these last five sets would be run, "I hope you've each got your numbered cards with you that I handed out yesterday. Whatever number you've got will determine who your opponent is for this first set. Right now, it's duelist one versus duelist two. Will you both please come forth and be ready to present your numbered cards as proof!" Linda commanded as parts of the small crowd shifted left and right to pave a way for us to go through. We didn't look at each other until she took our cards, "Remember your numbers, boys," Linda said almost in a warning tone. I looked to greet my opponent and was disgusted at who I saw. It was that conceited guy who beat Steve a few days ago! I secretly promised that I'd avenge his defeat, but figured that the odds of actually facing him were between zero and nothing. But now it was time to knock this guy out of the tournament. And I knew exactly which card I'd take from him once I won.

"You two can now go into the arena. The other thirty, and myself as the referee, will soon follow," Linda advised as we both went into the structure alone.

He spoke to me during the trip through the short tunnel, "So what name should I call my latest victim?" he taunted.

"(My name) will do just fine. What's **your** name?" I asked, trying to remain friendly.

"Call me Travis," he demanded as we exited the tunnel and gaped around at the amazing place around us. The dueling arena was huge! I instantly figured that this island wasn't only just for some duel tournament of a few days. This place was immense! The seating was set up how a football stadium is. Obviously, thirty people wouldn't even begin to fill it up. In fact, the thought of only 30 people in a stadium humored me. I looked back at Travis who already seemed to be making his way toward the red dueling platform. I shrugged and walked over to the blue side. Blue is my favorite color, as some useless info.

As I stood across the field from Travis, I remembered everything that the receptionist said: direct attacks and attacks on attack mode monsters hurt, fusion monsters can attack in the same turn they are summoned, and all the real rules- including the 8000 life point rule. But, since I didn't see Travis in the team-duel room last night, he thought we were beginning at 4000.

We shuffled each other's decks with that amazing machine and drew our first five cards. A gust of wind blew by us, making the distance between us seem even farther. Suddenly, a booming voice blasted from towers around the stadium with megaphones attached to them, "Look at the bottom card of your decks, boys. The owner of the card whose name is closest to the letter A will decide who gets to go first," Linda emerged from a secret compartment under the ground on a tower which was rising high so she could make sure nobody cheated. And to my left, the other 30 duelists began to walk in.

"This duel is about to start, folks. Find a place to sit down as the match of duelist #1 (me) versus duelist #2 begins!" Linda said into the microphone headset she had on. "Boys? Show me the bottom card of your decks!" she commanded.

"Malevolent Nuzzler," I reported.

"Man-eater Bug," Travis responded as we both held up our cards to her.

"Uh…. m…. a…. N? L? Oh! L comes before N… YOU get to decide who goes first!" she said as she pointed to me. "Place those cards back to the bottom of your decks, guys. #1? Who goes first?" she asked.

I looked at my first five cards: Princess of Tsurugi, Poison of the Old Man, Mask of Darkness, Warrior Dai Grepher, and Monster Reborn. It wasn't the greatest of hands, and I felt like using my Princess of Tsurugi's effect sooner than later, so I let him go first, "Travis will be making the first move," I requested as she turned to him and then shouted, "DUEL!" Instantly, our life points skyrocketed from the zero that was displayed to 8000. Travis gasped along with half of those in the stands. "WHAT?!? 8000? The cranky receptionist said that we'd be beginning with only 4000! Oh well, it will make this more fun. Alright, here we go!" he confidently announced. After he drew a sixth card, he immediately set two of them down. "Next, get ready for my Battle Ox (1700/1000)! And, in addition, I'm equipping him with both the Rod of the Mind's Eye and Gravity Axe- Grarl!" As he depleted his hand to only one card, his two equip cards took on visual form. The Battle Ox's original weapon slowly twisted into the dark gravity axe- grarl. It had an ominous green glow surrounding it. And that same green glow seemed to cover all of my monster zones, too. The Rod of the Mind's Eye showed evident by changing the engravings on the gravity axe to more mystical looking symbols. And the Eye of Anubis now appeared on both sides of it. I thought this new weapon looked pretty odd in the hands of a beast-warrior. "His attack has been boosted up to 2200 thanks to my gravity axe. It's your turn."

I drew my Polymerization and took a few seconds to wonder: _Y'know, it's never often that I can ever summon my Black Skull Dragon using the Polymerization card. It's such a rare occurrence… Maybe I should consider removing this card and the two red eyes that I have from my deck…?_ I thought as I began my turn. "I'm setting one card face down and another card in defense mode, your move," I said as I chuckled at his future demise. The card I set was my Princess of Tsurugi. Once he attacks, his life points are dropping by 2000!

He drew a card, "I'm summoning Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) and attacking your face down monster with him!" I smiled as he said that. His metal monster dashed forward with a single bound and cut up my princess, activating her effect.

"That was the Princess of Tsurugi! Oh crap, I know what's next!" Travis said as he braced himself for life point loss. Before my monster disappeared from the field, she looked up at him, and showed him the back of her right hand. She clenched her fist instantly causing four icicle knives to pop up out of nowhere. She smiled evilly and jumped high into the air thrusting her hand at his four cards in his magic/trap zone. She vanished, leaving only the four flying objects blazing towards his cards. They struck full force and broke apart. An electrical current began to surge through the cards and with immense energy, ached upward, striking Travis.

He withheld a yell inside him and reached down to flip over a trap card as his life points were sinking down to 6000, "It's the beginning of the end for you, with my Fatal Abacus!" Rising up from the ground was the ugliest piece of a Chinese counting tool I've ever seen. Its wires were all dark, dingy, and twisted. It had green… SKIN, it seemed and had a skull; on top with glowing yellow eyes randomly about it. "For every one of our monsters that is sent to the graveyard, the owner of that monster card loses 500 life points! And since your Princess of Tsurugi was sent to the graveyard, you lose 500!" He finished talking, and the beads of the abacus began to move about on their own. And with each movement, the abacus glowed a darker black until it stopped. The skull opened its mouth and launched the evil energy right towards me, surrounding me in darkness accompanied by a sting of pain.

"Yeah, Travis! That's teachin' that punk!" I heard a voice from behind him say. He looked behind him to see his other friends cheering for him with his recent damage to my life points. Behind me I heard, "Uh…? Keep it up, (my name)! You're still winning!" Jack said as the others nodded in agreement. They were standing behind me to the right by the corner of the dueling stadium's holographic emitters.

"Hah, and it's still my battle phase. So, attack him directly, Battle Ox!" he ordered. In compliance, his souped up beast-warrior ran forward and took a huge leap right for me. He then took a huge slash at me, causing a surprising amount of pain. I yelled a little bit because pain hurts, quite simply. But I remembered the direct attack I took from Em's Jirai Gumo also having 2200 attack points. This 2200 attack hurt significantly less.

My life points dropped to 5300 until I activated the quick play magic card, "Poison of the Old Man! Upon activation I can either increase my life points by 1200 or damage yours for 800. I'm increasing mine to 6500!" I happily said as he frowned a bit.

"It's alright, bud!" one of Travis's friends said, "You're catching up to him!" And with that, his turn was over.

I drew one of the newest that I added to my deck, Sakuretsu Armor! It's a powerful trap card that I'm glad to own. I set it down along with my Mask of Darkness. "It's your go," I said as he snatched the top card from his deck, smiling. He set his recently drawn card next to his gravity axe. "Now, Battle Ox, attack his face down card causing 500 more points of damage to him!" he ordered. And just as before, his monster dashed forward and was about to strike my card, but I activated the trap card, "Sakuretsu Armor! Once you declare an attack, I can activate this card. It destroys the attacking monster! So see ya later, Battle Ox. And it looks like you become the victim of your own trap card!" I announced at the sound of a shocked audience was sent through the stadium. The same black glow smothered Travis causing his to feel 500 points of damage.

"Ugh! You loser. But whatever, I still have Gearfried. Attack his face down card!" he ordered it. The metallic, black monster used its metal arms to deliver a devastating punch to my Mask of Darkness. I lost 500 life points, but I got to bring a trap card back into my hand. Travis wasn't happy about that. The score was tight. I was winning: 6000 to 5500. "Now it's your turn," he angrily said.

I drew my Magician of Faith and considered setting it so I could bring back my Poison of the Old Man. But it would cost me 500 more life points, and I cannot spend the whole duel defending, so I decided to go on the offense… for as long as I could, "I'm summoning Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600) in attack mode!" "And I'M activating trap hole! Your monster's gone, sorry! And you now lose 500 life points because your monster card was sent from the field to the graveyard," he reminded me. And so, the black force of energy drained my life points to 5500, even with his.

"Fine, whatever. I'll set this face down and activate Monster Reborn to bring my warrior card back once again. But his attack is weaker, so I'll let it be your turn now," I said as he looked at my face down card while he drew another card. He looked at it and set it down, where his Rod of the Mind's Eye used to be. Then he said, "I'm not attacking for obvious reasons. Your turn," he said as I secretly smiled. The card I set down was actually the Polymerization card that I got as I first drew.

"Here I go," I drew my La Jinn as Doug said, "Keep him sweatin', (my name). You've got this guy!"

Across the field, I could hear one of his friends say, "No he doesn't! Look at that powerful card in your hand! This duel is over!"

"Anyway," I began as I listened to the two begin bickering over who's better, "I'm setting another card face down and summoning my La Jinn (1800/1000)! It's your turn again," I said to him as that same friend called out to Doug, "Just you wait! I'll mess you up in the tournament!" as Doug laughed with Andre uncontrollably for some reason. _I must have missed something…_ I thought as Travis drew a card.

"I'm setting one monster in defense mode and ending my turn. It may seem boring now, but I can assure you that my hidden surprises won't keep this place dull for long," he taunted as I drew my next card. I paused from looking at it for a few seconds so I could consider what type of duelist this guy was, _He's played a beast-warrior and a warrior so far. And he seems to rely on equip cards a lot along with traps._ I began to think as I looked at his creepy abacus. The entire zone space it occupied seemed to soak up all the light around itself and invert it into darkness. I could never look at it for long. Then I looked at the card I drew. It was one of the greatest draws I've ever had! In my hand was, "And now I summon the one and only Goblin Attack Force (2300/0)!" I proudly announced as an entire army of green skinned goblins dressed in purple and gold uniforms sprouted up from the ground wielding some pretty dangerous-looking weapons. I waited for Travis's reaction, "Whoa! Of all the beasts, warriors and beast-warrior cards that I have and want, THAT one card is the one that I've wanted the MOST! Tell me what booster pack you found it in!" he demanded as I looked at the three-lettered symbol.

"Looks like Pharaoh's Servant to me!" I responded as the sun reflected off of my army's shiny new helmets and maces. Now, guys, attack his warrior!" With that, the leader yelled something and led his army in a charge against his iron knight who seemed overwhelmed by the sudden force going against him. All together, they beat his warrior senseless until he was destroyed. They trudged back to where they started and all lay flat on the floor, in defense mode. He lost 500 life points because of the attack difference of the two monsters, and then another 500 due to his own Fatal Abacus. "I activate a trap card, Just Desserts. You lose 1500 life points, 500 for each monster you've got on the field!" he happily said as he temporarily gained the lead. "It's still my battle phase, and here comes la Jinn to attack your face down card, meaning a tie game at 4000!" I said as La Jinn focused a ball of dark purple energy in his palms and unleashed it towards his face down monster, "You've just destroyed my Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu (500/500). It's flip effect lets me take one equip spell card from my deck to add to my hand." As he searched and found one that he liked, he smirked, "Hah, you're finished. The card's effect doesn't even require me to shuffle my deck afterward, so I know what card I'm going to draw next!" he said as I lowered my eyebrows and crossed my arms at him as if to say 'so what!'

"A lot of good that's going to do you if you can't last long enough to draw it!" I laughed a little as I said, "Attack his life points directly, Dai Grepher!" Proudly, he lifted his sword high above his head and yelled loudly as a bright red, white, and yellow beam merged into one powerful ray of light focused at the tip of his sword. In one swift motion, he pointed the sword directly in front of him and let loose the powerful energy stored within his weapon. Submerging Travis in pure power, he yelled this time and fell to the floor of his platform. His life points made the beep beep beep BEEP sound until it reached 2300.

"Get UP, dude! You can't let this kid beat you! You beat his friend no sweat!" that friend of his said. I began to wonder if only one of his friends was left instead of the whole group I had seen him with. The edge of the dueling platform blocked my vision.

"Hey WAIT a minute, that's right!" both Jack and Travis sprung up and said at the same time. "I remember seeing you losers hanging around with that kid- before I beat him!" he taunted.

'Well then, prove to us all exactly how much of losers we all are by defeating me, hmm?" I antagonized him as he drew his next card.

"Here's a start: I'm summoning Amazoness Paladin (1700/300) in attack mode, equipping her with the card I had my blacksmith get for me: Lightning Blade! It increases this warrior's attack by 800 to 2500 and decreases all water monsters' attack by 500. But I'm not attacking because I just know your stupid trap card is out there. Go," he said as I drew one of my favorite cards ever, Kisetai! I immediately set it in defense mode, but he had to activate, "Shadow of Eyes! I KNEW you'd try a trick with some kind of effect card, and there's your famous Kisetai (300/800) ready to beef up your life points, well it isn't gonna happen!" he triumphantly announced.

"Alright, Trav! Now he's totally open for an attack! And look how weak his Kisetai is!" his friend cheered him on.

"Yeah, but what about (my name)'s trap card, genius?!" Doug yelled across from where he was standing to Travis's friend.

"Hey, shut up you little…" and the arguing just continued. But Doug WAS right. Travis knows my trap card is out there somewhere. And as long as it is out there to destroy one of his monsters, he won't attack.

"Well anyway, there's nothing else I can do. So it's your turn," I said to him as he looked pleased with the card he just drew.

"I'm activating Bait Doll! Its effect lets me force the activation of one face down trap card. If the trap's activation is at the wrong time for its proper use, then its effect is negated and destroyed. If not, the card I chose goes back face down. But either way, after its activation, my Bait Doll goes back into my deck, then I shuffle it. …Now… I know your stupid armor card is one of those two. So I'll…. pick…" he paused for a little while as sounds of tension surfaces from the audience randomly dispersed about the stadium. He was looking down at his field. There were two lit up yellow spots on the zone below his magic/trap zone. Representing my two face down cards. And the two slots my cards were on also glowed yellow.

Suddenly, he slammed his palm on one of the slots, making a choice. A yellow light beneath one of my cards turned red and blinked signifying that he had chosen that one. I lifted it up and was disappointed to see that he had chosen my trap card. I showed his choice to him, and he jumped, literally, for joy.

"Nice luck," I commented as he stopped laughing.

"Hah, now I've got nothing to fear. Amazoness Paladin, attack his puny Kisetai!" he commanded as his admittedly pretty warrior card toughened her grip on her newly equipped Lightning Blade. But suddenly and with unbelievable grace and speed, she dashed forth and sliced my Kisetai in half then electrically charged her sword, electrocuting both halves before it was destroyed. To make matters worse, most of that electric shock blasted from her sword and shocked me. It was pretty painful as my hair began to get frizzled.

"In all, you lose 2700 life points because of the monsters' attack difference and because your monster was destroyed; you've got 1300 life points left. For my main phase two, I think this is a good time to set my last card. And now it's your turn." He said. I looked up at Linda for some reason. She merely repeated, "It's your turn."

"Come on, (my name)! This is nowhere near over! Well… maybe it is- uh, but for HIM! Yeah, that's it. HE'S almost over! Fight him to the end, you can win!" Andre looked at Doug who was wearing the most uncomfortable face. You could tell, just by looking at him, that he had just said something stupid.

Well, I know what he MEANT I thought as I drew, to my relief, my Black Pendant! "I'm finally able to switch my Goblin Attack Force back into attack mode." My army lifted themselves off the ground and took deep breaths, ready to fight once again. "And now I equip it with Black Pendant! Their attack increases to 2800. And if you send it from the field to the graveyard, you'll lose 500 life points." A bunch of dark blue lines drew forth near the lead goblin's neck and slowly took on the form of the black pendant, which glowed a mysterious black luster. "And now I'm attacking your paladin with it!" I announced as the lead goblin's new dark power dispersed out to the others in his army. They all spread out and rushed toward his warrior card who just stood there staring at them. Suddenly, another army of humans appeared in the card zone corresponding to the card that he had set last turn. And they dashed ahead and slayed each one of the goblin warriors until it was just the Amazoness Paladin left.

"How?" I asked in surprised as I recovered from the recent pain I had experienced.

"That was my trap card Reinforcements. I boosted her attack power by 500 for that turn only, so she overpowered your whole army!" he said as our life points went down. Mine suck to 600. His went down to only 1800.

"For my main phase two, I'll switch my two monsters to defense mode," I nervously said. It seemed over for me. With his Fatal Abacus on the field, two monsters with weak defense, and life points enough for only one more of my monsters to be destroyed, I lost pretty much all hope. All he had to do was summon a monster with an attack greater than 1000 points, and he'd win… My heart sunk, and I looked to my left at my Black Skull Dragon, preparing myself for the possibility that I may lose it. I calmly said, "It's your turn."

He drew a card and held the tip of it to his chin, wondering what he should do with it. He then said, I'm ending my main phase one now and going straight into my battle phase. Amazoness Paladin! Attack his… Warrior Dai Grepher!" Nodding slightly, his warrior this time only pointed her sword at my warrior one-handedly. A small charge began to form at the tip and grow in power before exploding into an intense beam of electricity which fried my warrior, destroying him. Then his creepy abacus started moving around its beads again and formed another black shield around it before projecting it at me, causing 500 more damage, bringing my life points down to 100. But I thought it was weird that he chose my warrior card to attack instead of my La Jinn. Maybe he figured he'd take out the card whose defense could have turned into a problem?

"For my main phase two, I'm activating remove trap! Why, you may ask? Well, I figured I'd give you a fighting chance since I've got a good enough lead again. It'll be fun to see how desperate you can get!" He laughed as I wearily made a face somewhere between a smile and a frown. You never realize just how much 500 life points really are until you're around 3000. But I don't think I, personally, would have destroyed that trap in his situation. In fact, I was downright surprised when he did. Perhaps his ego surpassed his skill?

Anyway, as I drew my next card, I was glad he didn't destroy my La Jinn, "I'm switching my La Jinn back into attack mode and equipping him with Malevolent Nuzzler! It raises his attack by 700 to 2500, just like your card!" I proudly said as Linda suddenly blew a whistle that she had strapped around her neck. "Is that the same Malevolent Nuzzler you've got on the bottom of your deck?" she angrily asked. I showed her my bottom card, which was my other Malevolent Nuzzler, "I've got two," I commented as she calmed down, took a deep breath and said, "Okay, continue."

"Don't you know how many equip card I've got in my deck? Why else do you think I would have relied on my blacksmith? You better pray the next card I draw isn't an equip card!" he warned as I put my Magician of Faith in defense mode, therefore emptying my hand, and ended my turn.

He drew a card a bit anxiously and quickly looked it. "It's alright, man! You'll draw a better card next time!" his friend yelled to Travis. Travis's face developed a weak smile as he considered his options. Then he said, "I'll attack your face down card. And if it's one of the jars, your butt is in for a major kicking!" he yelled as a ball of electricity destroyed my face down Magician of Faith (300/400). I used her effect to bring my Black Pendant back into my hand. He ended his turn like that not to mention angry, because he knew what was coming next. But the card I drew on my next turn was an extra bonus! This duel was over!

"I'm first equipping my La Jinn with my Black Pendant to raise his attack power to 3000! Also, I'm summoning Dragon Zombie (1600/0) in attack mode. Perhaps you should let it symbolize your defeat. With nothing between my genie and your warrior, and then my zombie's direct attack you're toast! La Jinn, annihilate his paladin!" I ordered. Using his new black pendant, he held his hands to the left and right of it, not moving either of them. In an instant, a dark blue ball of energy was summoned forth from the piece of jewelry and was launched at his warrior. As it traveled, it grew in size and power, leaving behind a dark musk. It collided with his monster, leaving no remains. His life points went down to 1300 and I was smiling. He was on the verge of screaming it looked like. "Now, as the vengeance of Steve- Dragon Zombie, attack his life points directly to remove him from this tournament!" With that, my zombie took in a deep breath, not even moving his head and viciously opened it, exhaling and bathing Travis with its corrosive power.

"Ahhh! It stings!" Travis complained as it ended two seconds later.

His life points sank to zero, and the holographics instantly shut down.

"And the winner of this duel is," Linda whipped her right hand towards me, "Duelist #1!!"

All three platforms sunk to ground level and we both walked up to Linda. "Choose ONE card from his deck," she told me as he reluctantly fanned out his deck. I quickly located and chose the De-Fusion that he had won from Steve.

"And here you go, #2. For ending this tournament as one of the top 32, you are awarded," and she pulled an envelope out of her pocket, "Two hundred fifty dollars!" she warmly said as Travis, wide-eyed, accepted the money, counted it in front of us, and reluctantly said, "Th-thank you!" He turned to greet his friend who was walking up behind him. I noticed it was his only friend. _His other buddies must have already been sent home._ I thought with a secret smile.

"It looks like you're the only one of us left. Come on, thrash whoever gets in your way!" Travis said as his friend nodded in agreement.

I looked behind me and saw my three friends, all still in this tournament. I tried to force myself to see one of them not there as it may soon be the case. As a result, I, for some reason, imagined Jack not being among them. But he reappeared as he spoke, "Heh… I hate direct damage duelists," Jack reminded us all as they all congratulated me on my recent victory. But my attention suddenly was directed back to Linda, "Okay! This duel is over. Now will duelists 3 and 4 please come forth with your numbered cards. Duelists 1 and 2, you two may return to the seats now. #1, your next opponent will be whoever wins this next duel."

I watched as two people came down through the stands. One of them was Christina, the girl who used water cards along with Alex with his fire cards. I was very interested in watching the outcome of this duel.

However, it happened so quickly that the only thing I can really remember about it was when she "accidentally" left her Bottom Dweller (1650/1700) in attack mode, even with her Legendary Ocean out which boosted it to (1850/1900). Her opponent had a Koumori Dragon (1500/800) equipped with a Horn of the Unicorn in attack mode. She ended her turn after setting three cards face down below her fish card. Then her opponent set a monster face down, and attacked her Bottom Dweller. She then activated her middle face down card, Collected Power, which raised her Bottom Dweller's attack to 2550. And since the attack had already been declared, her powered up fish card withstood the puny-looking firebreath attack of the dragon and countered with a mighty, bone-shattering slash from its tail. The dragon was destroyed, causing her opponent to lose 1050 life points. Then she won on her next turn. But I must say, she was unusually calm during the whole duel, even when she was losing by 3000 after suffering a direct attack from her own Crab Turtle(2550/2500). But she caught up and passed him, winning the duel with 1900 life points to spare. She was a pretty good duelist, it seemed. And I would be facing her in the next round.

But before any of that, my friends still have to try their own skills…


	14. Tournament Stories part 14

Tournament Stories part 14

"Now finish him off, Giant Axe Mummy (1700/2000)! Corrode away the rest of his life points!" A youthful girl commanded a zombie card of hers. But contrary to the verb that she used, "corrode," the mummy trudged up and, with its huge axe, made a huge virtual gash on the right side of some other boy's dueling platform, taking his life points down to zero.

Doug spoke to me as the two duelists and Linda were taking care of business, "Interesting. I never knew that there existed a monster card version of Destruction Punch. But Giant Axe Mummy's effect only works when it's attacked as it's face down," he added. Jack interjected, "Heck, I never knew that there existed a female ZOMBIE duelist!"

"Duelists numbers 13 and 14, please report to the arena at this time!" Linda shouted into her megaphone as the girl and recently defeated boy walked away, both wearing smiles.

Suddenly realizing that I didn't know Jack's OR Doug's card number, I turned to my right and asked Doug, "Hey, what's your number?" He stood up and showed me his card numbered 13, "Wish me luck!" he happily said as he patted his black leather deck box hitched onto his belt. And Jack answered before I could ask, "Twenty two."

We all watched Doug descend the stairs and make his way to Linda. But we didn't see any opponent get up from the stands. Suddenly, we noticed Travis's friend walking in from the left by the tunnel that leads out to the island. We all held in laughter after foreseeing what was about to happen.

The instant Doug and Travis's friend saw one another, their faces turned surprised and then angry. Finding it obvious that this duel should start as soon as possible, Linda rushed over to her little tower and rose up first. Travis's friend, whose name we later found out to be Jim, took the red platform. Doug obviously took the blue one. Then the usual happenings occurred, and Jim let himself go first. Jack, Andre, and I made our way down to the bottom of the blue platform just as Jim was making his first move, "I'm summoning Robotic Knight (1600/1800) in attack mode, followed by setting one card face down."

Doug drew his sixth card. And even though we couldn't see them from where we were standing, his body language told us that his hand was rather good. He kind of took a step back and lightly shook the cards forward once or twice with both hands.

"I'm activating the magic card Reasoning-" he was interrupted by Jim, "I'm activating the trap card Type Zero Magic Crusher. Every magic card discarded from my hand results in 500 damage to you!" "Fine, but now it's time for MY card's effect. Reasoning has you declare a monster card level. Then I pick up, but not draw, cards from my deck until a monster is reached. If that monster is the same level as the one you've declared, all the cards I picked up are sent to the graveyard. If it's a different level, the monster is immediately special summoned onto the field in face-up attack or defense. So declare a monster card level!" Doug proudly announced.

_Hah! And since Doug hasn't played ANY monster cards yet, Jim has no basis on which monster level is the most likely to be next! That was a clever move. I only hope he doesn't go through more than 4 cards to get to his next monster!_ I thought as Jim shouted, "Level 4!!"

I, personally, would have said that monster level as well. Level four seems to be an all too popular monster level because such monsters typically have high attack for an immediately summonable monster.

Doug heard what Jim had said and looked at the top card of his deck. He took it off the top, still face down. We looked up and accidentally saw it but instantly began cheering. Noticing us, Doug looked beyond the card at us and then instantly flipped it over.

"Cool! A monster card on the first try! And it's a level 5, not 4! So my Molten Behemoth (1000/2200) is going in defense mode!" Doug said as he searched his hand for additional options. From within the arena, we could hear machinery grind and sputter as certain circuits were triggered in order to conjure up the huge rock. The three of us couldn't see too much of it because we were so close to the edge of the arena; we'd have to back up or be in the stands to see it.

"Next, I'm setting one card face down and normal summoning Darkfire Soldier #1 (1700/1150) in attack mode!" I backed up enough to see most of the duel as Doug slid his card onto the field. I could just barely see his soldier's flames as he commanded it to attack his opponent's Robotic Knight. I saw it jump into the air and heard it slash at something and Jim's life points go down.

Suddenly, we all heard loud humming coming from the arena and mechanized doors opening up. We looked up at Doug to see his head following something from the ground. As it rose higher, we could see what it was. It was this current duel with card graphics and stats, and duelist pictures with life points all sprouting up from the middle of the playing field. And right to the left of it, once it reached its full height, was Linda on her tall tower tapping away on some control panel I've never noticed before.

It was Jim's turn now, "I'm activating my machine's effect! By sending these three magic cards to the graveyard, you lose 1500 life points! HA ha haha!" Jim laughed as we saw Doug surrounded by a field of bright blue electricity. He scrambled around the small space of his dueling platform, yelling a little bit and using choice words that many of the duelists in the stands laughed at. "Next, I play Gearfried the Iron knight (1800/1600) in attack mode, set one card face down, and attack your Darkfire Soldier!" And a few seconds later, the huge screen TV towering above us all displayed a thick green bar below Doug's picture sink 100 points lower than the 6500LP mark. Jim's were still strong at 7900. But on the upside, Jim's hand was completely empty now. So Doug had a slight reason to relax. "I hate direct damage cards!" Jack said out loud for no apparent reason.

"Now it's my turn!" Doug said more to himself than anyone as he drew a card and looked at his face down card. "Since it's my standby phase, I'm activating my face down card, Non Aggression Area! After I discard one card from my hand, I prevent you from summoning at all on your next turn! I now sacrifice my Molten Behemoth to summon a monster whose attack points are equal to my Behemoth's defense points, Twin-Headed Fire Dragon (2200/1700)! But that isn't all. I'm playing the field card Molten Destruction! Every fire monster gets an attack boost of 500 and a defense loss of 400!" With that, a huge volcano slowly sprouted up from the left side of Doug. We knew it was there because it was even taller than the scoreboard, spewing holographic lava everywhere. "Now he attacks your knight!" Doug said as the dragon, with both heads, vaporized his knight with a flood of flames. Jim's life points went down to 7000.

"Doug made a surprisingly good move… With 2700 attack points and his opponent not able to summon anything this turn, this duel is really one sided right now!" Andre said, never once thinking that he'd sincerely be complimenting Doug. Jack looked at him and frowned a little. It seemed to me like Jack was still upset from his loss to Doug last night before the practice duels.

"Finally, I'm setting my last card face down, ending my turn," Doug said as he glared at the scoreboard.

Jim anxiously drew his next card. "First I'm sending this magic card, Miracle Dig, to the graveyard to drag your life points down to 5900," on the scoreboard, the thick green line under Doug's portrait was now a slightly thinner yellow line. "And I may not be able to summon anything this turn, but I am able to take control of ANOTHER monster **already** summoned! Change of Heart," and he flipped over his face down card, "Let's me take control of one of your monsters until the end of the turn. So now I attack!" he declared.

"You may wanna reconsider that after THIS is activated," Doug said as he flipped over, "It's one of my favorite trap cards called Physical Double. I now special summon one mirage token in face up attack position to my side of the field. This token has the exact same attack, defense, level, type, and attribute as the monster you just took from me, not to mention the same shape." Slowly, the gray ball of slime, or something, twisted and morphed itself into an exact duplicate of the other Twin Headed Fire Dragon. Doug continued, "Now that there's more monsters on the field than before, the replay rule comes into effect. You can choose if you want to attack or not," He said as I looked back and forth at both identical dragons staring at each other. But Jim didn't think too long, because, seconds later, I saw a huge fireball decimate Doug's token right after it's attacked the real dragon, both were destroyed, and it was Doug's turn once again. He was nervous for what this card might be.

"Now I summon Burning Beast (1500/1000) in attack mode. He gets an attack boost due to my field card. And now he attacks your life points directly!" Doug said as the red-hot creature tensed up its back, causing lava to well up within capsules. He launched them from his back, and the whole stadium watched in awe as they homed in on Jim's dueling platform and exploded in a conflagration of damage. Jim's life points stood at 5000.

"Yeah! Nice move, Doug!" I said as the bar beneath Jim's picture turned yellow as well. We all waited for Jim now…

He really did look annoyed as well as disappointed with the next card he drew. "I would usually discard this card to inflict damage to you, but I need a monster on the field, so here comes the stupidest move ever…" he paused and then activated, "Autonomous Action Unit... At the cost of.….. RRRRGGHH! 1500 life points," many amused groans were heard throughout the stadium as his life points sped down to a shaky 3500, "I bring back your Twin Headed Fire Dragon from the graveyard to my side of the field and equip him with this card." He dejectedly waited for the card's effect to take its course.

Suddenly, a beautiful bolt of whitish blue lightning sparked down from the sky, struck Doug's graveyard and continued to surge into it until a mechanized image of Doug's dragon rose up from it as if it were being rudely awakened from a restful sleep. The lightning seemed to have a magnetic effect on it as it dragged the dragon over to Jim's side of the field and disappeared once arriving there.

"Now your card is under my control for good!" he said as the card grew in strength due to the field card still out. "Now melt away his beast!" he commanded the metal reinforced pyro card. With two more deep breaths, the dragon made quick work of Doug's Burning Beast, and took his life points down to 5200. The dragon let out a mighty roar. And as a result from the sudden air rushing through its throat to supply that noise, some of the screws in its neck fell out and hit the ground with an amusing dinging sound. The metal obviously didn't do anything for it.

After Doug drew his next card, he instantly set it in defense mode and ended his turn, with a smile. It appeared as if Doug was planning something.

On Jim's next turn, he drew and discarded Remove Trap to his graveyard, bringing Doug's life point total to 4700. Then he attacked Doug's face down monster, Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu. "I'm sure you know from watching our friends' duel that this card, once it's flipped, allows me to take an equip card from my deck and add it to my hand without shuffling my deck afterwards!" We watched Doug finger through his deck as he hummed some unrecognizable tune, to us at least. He found an equip card, showed it to Linda as proof, and began his next turn.

"I'm summoning the card I just drew, MY Robotic Knight (1600/1800) in attack mode. His attack rises to 2100 thanks to my field card. And now for the equip card I had my blacksmith craft for me, Salamandra! It gives any fire card a 700 attack point boost, meaning HE'S got 100 more attack than… **MY** fire dragon! Robotic Knight, destroy the Twin-Headed Fire Dragon!" The machine inserted his newly equipped fire sword into a slot on the side of his gattling gun arm. The barrel rotated faster and faster until the first shots rang out. But only this time, they were completely ignited like miniature rockets speeding right towards the dragon, only there were tons of them! In a matter of seconds, the dragon could withstand no more and let the bullets shove him against the front of Jim's dueling platform. And his life points went down to 3400.

"Hmmph, what a loser," Jim said as he drew his next card. "Well! It's about time my luck turned around! Make way for Pot of Greed! I get to draw two cards from my deck! …And what beautiful cards they are! First, I'm playing Soul Exchange to force one of your monsters to be a tribute for my… Timeater (1900/1700)! And you'll find out what its effect is on my next turn, because Soul Exchange forces me to skip my battle phase. Now go," he commanded with an evil smile.

"I'm simply setting this one card in defense mode and ending my turn," Doug obliviously said.

Oh man, Doug's got no idea how tight of a spot he's in! I thought as Jim began his next turn, smiling.

"I'll discard the magic card Frontline Base to the graveyard to inflict 500 more points of damage to your life points!" We all watched as another shock of blue electricity once again jolted Doug's life points down to 4200. "And now my Timeater attacks your face down card, activating its effect! Whenever Timeater destroys one of your monsters in battle, you must skip your next main phase 1!" Jim said as he crossed his arms, closed his eyes and recited from memory.

"Well, the card you've destroyed ALSO has an effect. She's the Lady Assailant of Flames (1500/1000) and you've activated her flip effect. By removing the top three cards of my deck from play, I can inflict 800 points of damage on you!" So before she disappeared, the Lady Assailant of Flames ignited her dagger and tossed it into the air, aiming right at Jim. The incinerated knife never actually touched him, but the holographics made it seem real enough as his life points lowered to 2600. The scoreboard displayed a red line even thinner than the yellow line right below Jim's picture. Doug smiled as he placed the three top cards of his deck away from the rest of his cards. He then drew a card to begin his next turn.

"Don't forget! You can't do your main phase one. And since you have no monsters in attack mode, you can't conduct your battle phase, which means your turn is over!" Jim sneered and Doug looked at Linda, "He's right, kid. Sorry about that," she said regrettably as Doug passed his turn.

"Hah, my turn again," he drew a card greedily. "I summon Gradius (1200/800) in attack mode! And your field is wide open for a combined attack of 3100!" Many of those in the audience gasped. I spoke to him, "Don't give up, Doug! You're still in this! All you've gotta do is draw a fire monster with an attack of 1500 on your next turn!" He nodded a bit as a dark, deep spiral of dark energy smothered him from our view, and as laser blasts randomly seared through his dueling platform bringing his life points down to 1100.

Responding to what I said to him a few seconds ago, Doug said before even drawing his next card, "Simple…" then he drew and immediately, without looking at it, activated, "Monster Reborn!" "What? How'd you know that you would draw that card?" Jim shouted as Linda also looked at him. Doug explained, "Remember my blacksmith? He allowed me to search through my deck to put an equip spell card into my hand. It never said I had to shuffle it! So I just kept track!" he then smiled and continued his turn, "And the monster I'm reviving is my Burning Beast! (1500/1000) He receives a 500 attack point boost because of my field card…" he looked to his left at the massive volcano still spewing silent holographic lava. "And that was a special summon so now I normal summon my Freezing Beast (1500/1000) and attack your Gradius with it!" Instantly, his glistening beast stood as tall as it could on its four legs. Little pieces of ice flaked off as it moved for the first time. Then icicles protruding from its slick skin launched off its back and homed in onto the shiny machine and went right through it, destroying it. Jim's life points went down to 2300. "And now my Burning Beast will attack your Timeater!" he continued as lava bubbles rose out of its back and sped toward the dark mechanical clock, destroying it and bringing Jim's life points down further to 2200. "And here's the best part. Now that it's my Main Phase 2, I can do something very special with these cards. I can perform a union!" Doug announced as Jack and I gasped a little bit. The rest of the crowd, except for Christina and Alex, who had still yet to duel, including Jim looked confused. "A union??? You mean those two hideous things are gonna have-" Jim was swiftly interrupted as the other thirty duelists, six of which who were now spectators, laughed.

"NO!! Get your mind out of the gutter and just watch. By equipping my Burning Beast with my Freezing Beast, a special effect is now activated. As long as my freezing beast remains equipped to my burning beast, when it inflicts battle damage upon you, I get to destroy one face down spell or trap card on the field. It doesn't really apply to anything now, but another special effect is also triggered. If you manage to attack with a monster with more attack points than my Burning Beast has (2000), it's my Freezing Beast who takes the hit, leaving my life points intact. Because you destroyed him as an equip card!" Doug finished as Jim drew his next card.

"Crap!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He said, "I'm discarding 7 completed to the graveyard to inflict 500 points of damage to you!" as another bolt of blue electricity brought Doug life points to 600. The thing red bar beneath Doug's portrait was blinking even at the 1500LP mark. Jim's was still as thin and as red, but not blinking. But it didn't matter. In a few seconds, this duel would end!

"Gee, I imagined this duel to be more of a challenge than THIS! Ha ha ha ha ah ha ha!" he laughed dryly sarcastically and drew the final card of this duel. "I'm activating Remove Trap which gets rid of your pesky Type Zero Magic Crusher. It was fun while it lasted, though. So now, because it's my Main Phase 1, I'm unequipping my freezing beast from my burning beast. NOW I've got two separate monsters attacking you at the same time!" he said as they both used their attacks at the same time, the wall of steam resulting melted away Jim's life points right down to zero. The scoreboard displayed Jim's picture shrinking, and bringing Doug's picture to the center and enlarging it with the word, "congratulations!" above and to the right of it. Doug gathered up his cards and smiled at us all as his platform lowered to ground level.

We all followed him to where the two guys met up with Linda who mediated the exchange of a card and the awarding of $250 dollars to Jim. She looked at Travis who was standing behind Jim and said to everyone in general, "Y'know, you don't all have to wait here for all these duels to take their course. I only led you all in here so you'd know where to go once your number is called. There are speakers connected to this microphone that are hidden all about the island that you will hear the next match-up from. And if you've lost with nobody else that you know who is dueling, you're allowed to board the very special boat we've got, docked at the island's harbor. It's reserved only for the 32 duelists who came out on top."

As if they were right next to us listening, a few of those in the stands started making their way to the exit. Then Linda walked onto her special platform and said into a microphone, "Duelists number fifteen and sixteen, your duel at the stadium will begin in five minutes. "…only twenty-five more duels to go until this whole stupid tournament is over," I heard some random kid behind me say. And he was barely in hearing distance, too, because I, at first, thought I heard him say, "Only Trent (1500/1800) fires schools until this whole stupid torn ligament is a clover."

As Linda rose up in her platform and Jim and Travis slowly walked out of the stadium, Doug finally turned around to face us and immediately showed us the card he took from Jim's deck. "Whoa!" the other three of us said at once. "He had the Yamata Dragon in his deck?" Andre asked, extremely surprised. "Apparently so, and now it's mine! And with my Molten Destruction card, this is now my most powerful and rarest card!" he proudly said as he touched the top card of his deck before I mentioned, "But you know it's a spirit monster, right? At each of your End Phases, he returns to your hand. And that's not good because he requires two monsters to be summoned," I said before he showed me the top card on his deck, Spiritual Energy Settle Machine. "Oh, that's a good solution…" I was silenced as we all began walking to the blue side of the arena to see who would be dueling next. I knew that one of them would be Jon, because he had earlier showed me that his card had the number 16 on it. But Jon must have taken the red platform because on the blue one was his opponent. He looked like he had participated in tournaments before and that this would be no hassle. This guy was laughing to himself on his way up with his arms crossed and good-sized dueling deck in his right hand. The usual hassles occurred, Linda announcing which duelist was what, seeing the bottom card and so forth. It turns out that Jon would be making the first move…

The duel was short. Even though this guy **looked** experienced, this had to be his fourth or fifth REAL opponent ever. A word to the wise: DON'T activate Messenger of Peace if your de-spell is in the graveyard and if all of your monsters have over 1500 attack points AND if your life points are at 2100. Well, looks like that guy will have to chalk it up to experience.

Although, I didn't like the look on Jon's face when he snatched a card from that guy's deck. He was smiling maniacally, glaring directly at me. I figured it was the rarest card in this guy's deck, like Jon said he'd be taking from everyone he beats.

For a few seconds, I tried visualizing the scenario if Jon were to win a duel against me today. We'd approach Linda, who would be kind of sunburned from all that time in her little tower. She'd tell me to show him my deck, and he'd get angry because he's got nothing to do with my Black Skull Dragon (probably my rarest card) and he's already got a Dark Necrofear! So he'd probably either take my Last Turn (my rarest trap card) or my Goblin Attack Force. Those wouldn't be devastating losses; I very rarely use my Last Turn trap card, as it can only be activated on my opponent's turn when my life points are a mere 1000 or less. And Goblin Attack Force has great attack (2300) for only being a level 4 monster, but it has to switched, and stay in, defense mode through your next turn. So if your opponent has Gravity Axe- Grarl equipped to a monster, which prevents you from physically switching your monsters' battle positions, that monster is screwed. Even though I treasure my rare cards, some of them really stink.

"That concludes the west division of the first of these final five sets of duels. Now, to begin the east division's first set, will duelists number 17 and 18 please report to me immediately," and her microphone clicked off, resounding that same message through the whole island. I watched as the scoreboard's display morphed from showing Jon's grinning picture with the word "congratulations" by it into a tournament standings chart. It looked like a huge root system or a perfectly even family tree.

Everyone was represented by his or her number within a box. From the first round, those that were eliminated had a line going as far up as the perpendicular line touching it where an X was drawn. And across their number was a huge slash. Those that moved on to the next round had a line tracing the lines up to where the next highest box was. Only the left side showed any advancement. And there my number was, in the box above my first matchup. My next opponent would be Christina. I could hardly wait.

The next two duelists arrived into the arena at about the same time and began chatting with Linda, who seemed to have temporarily forgotten the she was this tournament's rules and conduct enforcer. But then her eyes caught a shot of the scoreboard changing back into a scoreboard and then prompted the two duelists to choose a platform. I then felt a nudge at my right side.

"Rare hunter," Andre said quietly as he looked ahead at the kid in the black clothing walking in the direction of the red platform. But I thought he was talking about the guy with the tight gray shirt on with baggy blue jeans and a red baseball cap rising up in the blue platform. I didn't even see the guy in the black clothing until he appeared on the blue side. However, contrasting with his totally black outfit was his bright yellow hair. I had trouble figuring out if was natural or bleached, too. Of course, I was pretty far away.

Then another very short duel began.

When it was almost over, an amusing conversation took place, "Alright, kid. I suppose I've given you slightly less credit than I should have. Fortunately for you, having that second coin toss magic card on the field allowed you to reflip that coin due to Time Wizard's (500/400) effect. And you may have destroyed all my monsters and gotten a piddling 500 point attack at my life points," he continued as he drew a card, "But now I play Soul of the Pure which raises my life points by 800 to 8100! All that crap for nothing, ha ha ha! It will take more to outduel me than sparks and a direct attack from a Time Wizard! Can't you think of anything craftier? Heh heh heh,"

Totally enraged, the kid in the tight gray shirt shouted, "RRRggghh! What CAN I do with all your stupid trap cards always blowing my monsters away?? I was surprised when you didn't get rid of my Time Wizard when I first summoned it with Trap Hole or something!" He quickly shrugged his shoulders kind of and angrily looked up and to the right when he heard his opponent's life points go up beyond the initial starting point, whereas his stood at 3400.

"Aha ha ha, of COURSE I didn't. Trap Hole only works on normally summoned monsters with 1000 attack points or more, you fool!" The guy dressed in black sounded very angry, but was nonetheless enjoying himself.

"…I …KNEW that!" the kid yelled back as his life point meter got thinner and red when the guy in black activated, "Tremendous Fire! You lose 1000 life points. I lose only 500. Then I activate Goblin's Secret Remedy sending my life points to an even higher 8200! Finally, I'm summoning the monster, which will end up destroying you, Great Angus (1800/600)! Attack his Time Wizard and bring his life points down even further!"

This beast looked totally ferocious. Even when he was first summoned, his yellow eyes showed anger and his muscles were tensed up. It rushed forward and suddenly stopped, skidding slightly to the wizard's right, then used his momentum to jump up extremely high so he had enough time to reveal his intensely sharp claws then turn around and land right on top of his spellcaster, claws first. Straight white lines were all about his Time Wizard, destroying it and sending the kid's life points down to 1100. "This will be your final turn," the guy dressed in black commented with a smirk.

"I'm not quitting, regardless!" he said in a shaky voice as he drew a card.

I don't get it! I thought. _This rare hunter hasn't summoned a monster with more than 1800 attack points the whole duel! But with cards like Michizure in one's deck, you wouldn't need too many monsters if your magic and traps keep doing the work for you… But still- SOME monsters aren't affected by such cards. And somehow, I doubt he's prepared for them. _I finished thinking as the kid set a monster in defense mode.

I sensed that this duel wouldn't take too much longer, so I decided to take a look at the cards that I had won so far in this tournament. There was the Empress Judge that I won from Jenny. She relied way too much on defense mode. And then I saw the Mr. Volcano that I won from Steve's best friend Craig. After that was the rare magic card Spiritualism that I won from Justin. Then it was the Numinous Healer trap card that I've always been making such a fuss over that I won from that conceited blowhard Z.K. I really don't know what I was thinking wanting a Numinous Healer so badly. Maybe it's because I thought everyone else had at least one except for me. Then I won Offerings to the Doomed from that weird rare hunter known as "S" which I still have in my deck to this day. It's extremely useful. And then, most recently, I've won that De-Fusion from Travis. He was the kid who took Steve out of the tournament.

Then that's where it hit me, "Mike! We all forgot about Mike! Who was the guy that beat him? We've gotta avenge him!" I said wide-eyed as the other three, and a few others looked at me kind of weird. I sat down, embarrassed and put my cards away.

"Doug just recently defeated him, remember?" Jack, of all people replied. "I was the one who told you guys about the duelist who defeated Mike. And Jim WAS that guy!" We all watched the guy in the black outfit's Great Angus destroy the other kid's Prevent Rat (500/2000) which was switched to attack mode because of the guy in black activating Stop Defense. And that was it, the duel was over.

Doug then added to our dispersed conversation, "Come to think of it, I DID see a Destruction Punch, Launcher Spider, and Overdrive in Jim's deck as I was searching through it, as well as the 7 Completed he won from Mike. That must have been the same 7 Completed he discarded from his hand on his last turn! …Weird.." he finished talking as Linda's platform sank to the ground, and the two duelists did the usual post-duel chatter… usually involving none at all. But the kid in the gray got $250 and the guy in the black got one of his cards.

Jack's duel wasn't too far away…


	15. Tournament Stories part 15

Tournament Stories part 15

"Don't talk to me!" Duelist number twenty said to her friend.

"What?! I'm sorry that you lost, but don't-" he was cut off by his friend's yelling, "But nothing! You ARE the reason why I lost!" she paused for a second as her friend looked at her kind of angry and concerned at the same time.

"There I was, confident in my plan because she only had 1400 life points left with one measly defense monster on the field. Then I hear you mumbling something about the Polymerization card I had in my hand-" "But I didn't-" "Lemme finish! So I looked at my hand closer and saw it right there, Polymerization, Niwatori, and Blue Winged Crown! I played my Polymerization and fused those two monsters together to form my Punished Eagle (2100/1800). But then she activated her De-Fusion card, which sent my winged beast back to the fusion deck zone. The card itself is rare enough. But for someone to actually have it set down in anticipation of their opponent summoning a fusion monster is even more rare. But lucky for me, that was a special summon… right?" she paused for a second as her friend's face got slightly sadder. "No, cuz then I normal summoned my Harpie's Brother which was immediately destroyed by her Trap Hole, leaving me totally defenseless. Then she sacrificed her face down card, summoned her Swordstalker, and eliminated me from the tournament." She finished talking. Now it was her friend's turn to defend himself.

"First off, I had no idea you had a Polymerization card in your hand; I was talking to myself about different fusion monsters that I've seen. And secondly, even if you hadn't heard me talking, that situation couldn't have been avoided because she already had those cards set down!" he said, causing her to go quiet for a few seconds.

"Sounds like your right. But I'm still upset that we can't advance to the next set together…"

"What can I say? Eight is my lucky number!" he obnoxiously giggled as he revealed his card numbered 8.

That was the conversation that took place as a recently defeated girl and her friend walked up the stairs to where they were sitting within the stands.

"Duelists number 21 and 22 will duel in four minutes!" Linda announced as she rose up in her platform for the eleventh time during these final five sets of duels. In no time, Jack and some other guy had five cards in their hands. And after they showed their decks' bottom card, Jack would be going first.

"Alright! I'm summoning my Harpie's Brother (1800/600) in attack mode followed by two cards face down. Then I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master, giving me 1000 more life points!" he said. The green bar below his picture then got even thicker than how the green line originally was, turned blue and extended further than how it originally was. The number to the right of his name displayed 9000.

"Hm…" Jack's opponent cheerfully considered his next move. After one look at him, you knew that there was something about him… if you know what I mean. "Okie doke! I'm setting one card in defense mode accompanied by this one other card face down!!" he smiled as he pointed his nose slightly up towards the sky and flicked his fingers at Jack with his palm facing the ground.

"Uh…? Okay, I'm sacrificing my Harpie's Brother to summon my Curse of Dragon (2000/1500) to attack your face down card," Jack said. His evil looking yellow dragon opened its mouth and a deep purple ball of energy manifested itself in front of it. Then the ball of evil energy was unleashed at his face down monster, which turned out to be the Prickle Fairy (300/2000). Since her defense points matched the Curse of Dragon's attack, nothing was lost, but she did have an interesting effect.

"Ha! You've attacked my Prickle Fairy. And ANY monster that attacks this card is switched into defense position after the damage step. So even though you take zero damage, your dragon is switched into defense mode now, ha!!" he smiled brightly but was nonetheless rude. "Is there anything else?" he continued.

"No. My turn is over," Jack said.

"Oh, goody. Now I get to attack!" he cheered as he drew a card "Ready? Okay, here we go. I'm summoning Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode! And then I'm equipping her with her favorite book to read, Book of Secret Arts! It raises her attack and defense by 300 points! And, due to her own effect, she gets an additional 500 attack points bringing her stats to 2350 over 1700! Now, attack his Curse of Dragon!" he commanded in the manliest voice he could, which wasn't much.

"Not so fast, I need my dragon on the field, so I'm activating Waboku! For the rest of this turn, any damage done to my monsters or me by one of your monsters is decreased to zero. So my dragon remains," Jack said. Maha Vailo's intensely bright red attack of dangerous energy bounced off the barrier triggered by the trap card's activation and disappeared.

"Oh darn. Well, I guess it's your turn, then," Jack's opponent said dejectedly, but still sounding rather perky.

Jack drew a card, and immediately set it face down. "I set one magic/ trap card face down, and then sacrifice my dragon to summon Invitation to a Dark Sleep (1500/1800) in attack mode!" Jack confidently put his card onto his platform. He really did look like he knew almost exactly what he was doing. His monster of darkness entered the duel quite dramatically. The zone on the field corresponding to where he placed it on his platform became all dark and shrouded in a dark green mist. Then he slowly rose up from the zone with his hands on his shoulders, his arms crossed in front of him. When he was completely summoned, his hands reached out in front of him with his fingers spread apart and his evil bright green eyes seemed to explode an intense concentrated beam directly at Jack's opponent's spellcaster. She tried fighting its force, but then succumbed to the green beam's force and fell asleep, although she was still standing.

"Ah! What's going on?" His opponent cried.

"When this monster is summoned I select one of your monsters who cannot attack as long as my monster is face up. So, obviously, your Maha Vailo is paralyzed until further notice!" Jack laughed a little. "Anyway, he isn't strong enough to attack anything, so I guess it's your turn."

His opponent drew a card and was overjoyed, "I didn't expect it to be THIS easy!" he happily said as he declared to Jack, "Okay, and NOW I'm sending my two monsters to the graveyard as tributes to make way for my WingWeaver (2750/2400)! Say hello, honey!" he said to his card as he placed it on the field.

I had a flashback to my duel against Em in which she played her own WingWeaver. I was lucky to have my Last Turn trap card out. I wondered what strategy Jack had… if any. But the WingWeaver's entrance to this duel was quite bright, as I remembered it to be. There was an endless tower of light originating from the ground and graciously sprouting up to the sky. Everything else seemed dim compared to this only beam of light. From the clouds, descending within this column of illumination, could be seen an angel-like figure. And, of course, holographic feathers were being randomly tossed about the duel along with mystical angel choir music being heard from an undeterminable source. Finally, the fairy touched the ground and stepped out of the light. Her clothes were the same color as the light- a beautiful golden yellow, and her wings were the purest form of light blue I've ever seen. Then the light slowly focused itself into a thin line, suddenly drawing all the feathers back into it, and sinking back into the ground. The vocal music faded too.

"Yay! She's here! And now for her favorite accessory, the equip card Cestus of Dagla! This raises her attack by 500 points. And whenever she inflicts battle damage to you, I get to increase my life points by the same amount! So let's see if it really works, WingWeaver, attack his spellcaster!" he commanded loudly, yet loudly.

Her recently equipped weapons reflected the sun perfectly. But the two weapons' gleam made them seem harmless. Instantly, his fairy dashed forward with perfect balance and gallant as she wielded her golden instruments perfectly. Their blades sliced right through Jack's monster. It fell to the ground, and he lost a major 1750 life points.

The scoreboard showed his life points decreasing rapidly down to 7250. His opponent's, on the other hand, were now blue and soaring and stopped at 9750. "Wheee! That was fun! At this rate, I'll be unstoppable by my next turn!" he clamped his hands together and held them close to him in front of his chest.

_Ugh- shut UP you freak!_ I angrily thought as Jack nervously drew his next card. A monster with 3250 attack points isn't a cinch to beat.

"I'm setting one card in defense mode," Jack said as he looked at his face down cards again to make sure what each one was.

"Hah, you sure? Cuz now I'm activating Light of Intervention. From now on, until this trap card is destroyed, monsters can't be placed in face down defense position. They can only be placed in face up defense position," his opponent said as spotlights came down from the sky and touched every single monster zone on the field and stayed there. They revealed Jack's recently set monster, the Magician on Faith (300/400).

"Well, looks like you've activated her effect, once she's flipped, I can bring back a magic card from my graveyard to my hand. And I'm choosing my Dian Keto so I can activate it again! My life points are now at 8250!" Jack happily said as his life point counter once again rose up, turned blue and stopped at 8250. I wondered how long this duel would take.

"Alright, my turn. And I'm summoning Tornado Bird (1100/1000) in attack mode. It's flip effect can't be activated, so I may as well use it to destroy your Magician of Faith! Go, Tornado Bird! Blow her away!" The huge bird began flapping its wings and beating them faster and faster in the Magician of Faith's direction. Before we knew it, two medium-sized tornadoes were making their way toward Jack's spellcaster. They both collided with her at the same time and destroyed her. "And now it's time for you to suffer a direct attack from my WingWeaver! Attack him!" he commanded her.

His fairy card, put away her recently equipped weapons, closed her eyes, and put her hands together, not folding them, with her fingers pointing towards her chin. A bright white light began to appear within her hands that looked like she was praying. After bringing them apart slightly, a brilliant ball of energy was beginning to be summoned. She spread out her hands wider, rotating them slightly with each motion. Winds around her began to pick up as the light got brighter and brighter. She ended up with the ball of light resting on her palms pointed to the sky. The size of the orb was unbelievable. And the brightness of it put the sun to shame. The winds suddenly died down, as she opened her eyes, focused on Jack. She slowly moved her arms in front of her. Her hands were now curved on the sides of the glowing orb, as she tried to control its power. Suddenly, she spread her hands as far apart as they would go, slowly launching the ball of light at Jack. He began to looked panicked as his opponent smiled a little joyous smirk. The orb traveled faster and faster and began to sound like it was tearing through the air. The sound had become all but deafening right before it collided with jack, full force. Completely submerged in light, we couldn't see if Jack was alright. Even the crowd in the stands gasped at the tremendous power they had just witnessed.

When the light had subsided, we saw Jack, perfectly still. It looked like he had his palms pressed against his platform in an attempt to recover. His head was slightly bowed.

All of a sudden, "NO!" his opponent yelled as he saw a card, recently turned face up and revealed toward him.

Jack's head jerked up as he stood up straight, "Afraid so. I've activated Nutrient Z! Before I take any of that 3250 attack, my life points increase by 4000 first. So it really means that my life points are going up by 750, back up to 9000!" Jack's life points beeped up to his original spot, 9000. "I'm not out just yet!" Jack commented as he drew his next card.

Trying to hold back a huge smile, he just set his recently drawn card face down and summoned his Dancing Fairy (1700/1000). "And now I'll attack your Tornado Bird with them!" Jack said as his playful little fairies all stopped giggling with each other and looked angrily (or, about as angry as fairies can look) at his opponent's Tornado Bird. Then they suddenly all let out battle cries and dashed toward the bird with mean glares.

I felt like I was watching an episode of The Powerpuff Girls with these three fairies that were traveling all around this poor bird at blinding speed landing occasional punches and kicks. The punching and kicking quickly got faster and faster, until the bird was all but destroyed. Then the three gathered together on their original monster zone and all pointed all their fingers at it, millions of grains of pixie dust exploded from their hands, surrounding the bird, and enveloping it, destroying it, causing his opponent to lose 600 life points, leaving his life points at 9150.

"Ha! That pretty much evened the score! And I wouldn't attack if I were you, by the way," Jack intimidated as he crossed his arms and looked at the top of his deck, smiling.

"Whatever. And if it weren't for his flip effect, Tornado Bird wouldn't even be in my deck," his opponent replied as he drew a card, making his hand three cards. "I'm setting one card face down, and setting my Dreamsprite (300/200) in face up defense." Then he went quiet for a second, obviously deciding if he should attack or not. After Jack warned him. And Jack is known to give good warnings every now and then, but his opponent had no idea who he was, nor did we know who his opponent was. Eventually, he did make the decision to attack, and that sealed his fate.

"Ha, YES! I warned you, but you didn't listen!" Jack said as the WingWeaver prepared her weapons. "I'm activating the trap card Really Eternal Rest. It does exactly what the magic card does, only this is the trap card version. That means that your all powerful WingWeaver is now a thing of the past!" Jack finished as his opponent's fairy was dashing forward again. But she stopped as her weapons began to glow a green color. She held them in front of her, wide-eyed. We all watched in uneasy anticipation of what would happen next. We all knew that she would be destroyed, but none of us knew how. Still holding them in front of her, the green glow quickly intensified. Suddenly, she tilted her head sharply over her shoulder down and to the left, closing her eyes tightly with a desperate, sad expression on her face at the peak of its brightness. The weapons exploded in a huge cloud of white smoke, removing her from the field.

"NO! My beautiful fairy! How could you? You'll pay for that!" his opponent complained as he looked through his hand for any additional options. He saw none and signaled it to be Jack's turn.

"Come on, I need a monster card this time!" he said loud enough for the three of us to hear. He looked at his next card and said, "Yes! Now I'm summoning one of my favorite monsters Zolga (1700/1200) in attack mode! Attack his Dreamspite!" Jack commanded his fairy that looked like something out of the Grandia video game… from the Tower of Temptation, more specifically. From under its blue cape, it raised its arms and unleashed a powerful blue electric attack upon his plant card, destroying it. "And since you HAVE no other monsters on your side of the field, her effect can't be activated," Jack said to his opponent. "And now my trio of fairies will attack your life points directly!" Jack announced as they charged forth and punched, kicked, and launched fairy dust at his opponent's dueling platform until his life points were at 7450.

"This duel is just getting started, hun!" he accented his accent to appear more annoying than he already was as he drew a card. "I'm summoning my Kelbek (1500/1800) in face up defense. Then, by removing my Maha Vailo and Dreamsprite from play, I can special summon my Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800)! Attack his Zolga!" he commanded his transparent fairy. She flew about the arena as she collected power from some mysterious force within her wings. She then stopped, turned toward Jack's Zolga, stiffened her wings, and pointed one finger at it. Light blue energy began to spark and fizzle at the tip of her finger. And then with great spontaneity, a thick beam of the same color power rushed toward his Zolga. "Not quite yet," Jack smirked as he revealed his last face down card. "This Rush Recklessly card increases my card's attack by 700 until the end of this turn, so kiss your soul of purity and light goodbye!" His Zolga absorbed the blue blast with ease, amplified it, and fired it back at his opponent's specially summoned fairy card, destroying it, and inflicting another 400 points of damage unto him.

"This just isn't your day! You didn't even get to use your fairy's special effect, and it's already gone," Jack said.

"Ugh, WHATever! Just go, okay?" he said, very annoyed.

"Not a problem," Jack said happily. "And NOW I'm using my Zolga's special effect. By offering it as a tribute for a tribute summon, my life points increase by 2000!" Numerous "Whoa!"'s were heard throughout the stadium as Jack's life points beeped all the way up to 11000! He had tribute summoned his King of Yamimakai (2000/1530) and attacked his opponent's Kelbeck. And even though his fiend was returned to his hand, he had destroyed his opponent's only monster on the field, leaving his life points open to another attack from his Dancing Fairy, bringing his opponent's life points down, again, to 5350. Jack smiled, looked at his opponent's face down card and said, "That card isn't doing much for you, is it?"

"Just be quiet now, okay? I'm very unhappy," he angrily said while he drew a card. "Fine, I'm summoning Agido (1500/1300) in defense mode. Attack that card, too, if you like," his opponent said slyly. His annoyingly happy attitude was returning.

_Agido! I know what that card does!_ I thought as I waited, anxiously for Jack's next move. I'd have loved to help him out, but telling him what to do wouldn't prove that he had much skill.

"Okay," Jack drew a card, "I'll set this card face down, and use my Dancing Fairy as a tribute to summon my King of Yamimakai (2000/1530) again. Annihilate his Agido!" Obediently, his fiend card clenched his fist. A multicolored, but altogether white, sphere of power gathered and intensified, ready to demolish whatever was in its way. Then he threw it at his mechanical fairy card (another card that looked like something from Grandia. This time, it looked like one of those things flying around in the Garden of Alent). His opponent's monster was destroyed, "Ha ha ha! Guess whaaaaaaat… You've just activated that cards effect by battling it and sending it to the graveyard! I now get a chance to bring back one of my fairy cards in the graveyard. I get to roll a die once. The number that comes up is the number of level stars of the fairy that I can bring back. I've only got fairies of level 4, 6 and 7 in there. Come on four or six!!" he gleefully pleaded the virtual die.

It clicked and rolled as realistically as it could. In no time, it revealed a six.

"Yay! I got a six, which means I can revive a fairy of level six- or higher! So guess who's paying us another visit… WingWeaver!" he announced. But instead of another flashy display of light and feathers, she just appeared after a second of yellow and white sparks that seemed to form a portal.

"You are winning. But you haven't won," his opponent declared.

"Crap! And Jack was doing so well, too," Doug commented out of the blue. Although, it did seem a bit hopeless. Despite Jack's unbelievably high life point amount, it will only be a matter of time until he is overtaken by his opponent's powerful fairy card, especially if Jack only draws one card per turn. And it's not likely he'll draw anything powerful enough to take on WingWeaver, because flip effects still cannot work.

"My turn!" his opponent happily said. "Oooohh! I just drew a good card!" he commented as he activated it, "Fairy of the Spring lets me take an equip card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. But the equip card can't be activated this turn, so I'm returning Cestus of Dagla to my hand so I can equip it to my fairy next turn and do some serious damage, people!" he said out loud as his obvious accent got on many people's nerves. "Attack his evil king now!" he commanded.

As if she were just summoned, she called forth another huge sphere of light and obliterated Jack's fiend with it, causing 750 damage, until jack activated his face down card, "It's Numinous Healer! When I take damage, I can activate this and receive 1000 life points!" Jack proudly said as his life points rose to 11250, the highest life point amount I've ever seen! He could survive two direct hits from the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500ATK)!

"Okay, it's my turn now," Jack said. He uneasily drew his deck's top card and was very annoyed with what it was. "I activate Remove Trap. I can finally get rid of your stupid Light of Intervention!"

"Ha, whatever! You're in for it now, buster!" he smiled and drew a card. "I'm setting this card… face DOWN, equipping my WingWeaver with the Cestus of Dagla and attacking you directly! And with absolutely **nothing** in the way, your life points are in for a major hit!"

The fairy card made quick work of 3250 of Jack's life points.

"Ugh, back to 8000, how boring," Jack commented as he looked up at the scoreboard. His were at a green 8000. His opponent's were at a thinner, yellow 5350.

After drawing a card, his face showed relief. "I'm activating Monster Reborn. This has to have been my luckiest draw ever! I'm reviving your Kelbek in defense mode! Your move," Jack had protected himself for one turn, at least.

"Hah, your luck is about to run out," he then drew a card, "but not with THIS card! Rrrrrrr… oh well. I'm sacrificing my face down Spirit of the Harp to summon Dark Witch (1800/1700). And now… ugh, my WingWeaver gets rid of the Kelbek." His opponent reluctantly made his card attack because they both knew Kelbek's effect. After the amazing light show, the Kelbek zapped the WingWeaver with electricity that forced her to disappear, returned to his opponent's hand. Then the Dark Witch attacked him directly, leaving jack at 6200 life points. It suddenly got close.

"NOW you're only winning by 850 life points! Quite impressive since you seemed almost unstoppable a few turns ago…" his opponent rubbed in his latest triumph as Jack drew a card. "I'm setting one card in defense mode, and end-" he was interrupted by his opponent's irritating voice, "Oh no you're noooot! I'm activating the trap card Shadow of Eyes! I knew it wouldn't be too long before you tried setting again, so I was prepared. Shadow of Eyes automatically switches your monster to defense mode. And if it has a flip effect, it is NOT activated, ha!"

"Aw crap! But that's only a Skull-Mark Ladybug (500/1500)!" Jack looked like he was shaking a bit.

"I see you were trying to increase your life points again, hmm?" his opponent began as he drew a card. "Well it isn't going to help you much," his opponent set his drawn card in defense mode. "Attack his ladybug, Dark Witch!" And with a lightning fast swipe of her staff, the ladybug split in half and was destroyed. It would have originally cost Jack 1300 points of damage. But, due to the ladybug's effect, Jack, technically, only took 300 points of damage.

"It's getting closer!" his opponent sang, "You've got 5900 life points now!" he gleamed as Jack anxiously drew a card. I looked up to see if I could catch a glimpse of its image. _Another lucky draw!_ I thought as I managed to see the bottom right hand corner of it, which was all I needed to see.

"I'm setting this magic/trap card face down," Jack declared as he, doubtfully, looked down at his only means of defense. "All he's gotta do now is fall for my trap," Jack said, barely audible.

His opponent drew a card and said, "It appears you're running low on options. So I'll be nice and activate this: Rain of Mercy! It increases both our life points by 1000!" So holographic rain clouds were conjured up by this magic card. Above each duelist began and ended a short rain shower which brought Jack's life points up to 6900, and his opponent's to 6350. "And now for the moment we've all been waiting for, the third return of my WingWeaver! I sacrifice my Dark Witch and face down Pixie Knight to resummon my WingWeaver (2450/2700)!" This time, four bolts of yellow lightning came down from the sky and each struck a corner of the zone in which he summoned his fairy. The came together, and dissipated, leaving only the fairy behind.

"Activate trap card, Trap Hole! You've normal summoned a monster with at least 1000 attack points, so she's immediately destroyed! Heh heh heh," Jack basked in his temporary glory as a giant chasm appeared below her and made her fall to her doom, despite her wings, which really made no sense…

"My move," Jack drew a card as his opponent said, "Oh no, oh NO! I'm wide open for an attack!" he panicked as Jack examined his card. "Alright, not bad. I'm activating the magic card Stray Lambs," he said as, from the magic zone where he put the card, two goat-looking objects flew forth and took up a monster zone. "Your move."

"Hmm? Well, alright," his opponent drew a card and set it down in his magic/trap zone with a sigh, "Now it's your go."

"Yes! I'm sacrificing both of my lamb tokens to summon Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300/2100)! And I attack your life points directly!" he announced.

"No!" his opponent screamed as the heroic knight upon his horse dashed forward, jumped over the face down card which he didn't activate, and used his red jousting spears to make two slashes along his dueling platform. His opponent's life points sank down to 4050.

"Think you've won?" his opponent calmly tried to intimidate him. He drew a card and angrily set it down next to his other one.

Jack summoned his other Harpie's Brother (1800/600) and attacked his life points with both of them.

"Ah, NO! There's nothing I can do! His knight raced forth again in a dash with his winged beast to see who could get to his life points first. Up first was the Harpie's Brother who, with his weapon, made a quick gash at his opponent's dueling platform. Close behind was Gaia. And with two more swipes of his own weapons, his opponent was eliminated from the tournament.

After the usual post-duel meeting with Linda, his opponent walked out of the arena and showed us his new card, "I now own an Altar for Tribute! It should be a good edition to my deck of life point recovery cards," Jack commented as I wondered why he took a trap card instead of his opponent's WingWeaver or something.

"Well, all that's left is for Andre to duel, and then we're all guaranteed FIVE hundred dollars!" I said as Jack and Doug's eyes lit up- right, as if they really forgot. "Hah, yeah. It'll be a piece of cake," Andre agreed as we went back to the stands.


	16. Tournament Stories part 16

Tournament Stories part 16

"Looks like I'm up!" Andre said rather quietly as Linda ascended in her tower once again. Surprisingly, Andre's opponent made it into the arena first and greedily snatched up the blue platform that Andre was obviously headed for. He hated this guy already, "Too bad this freak isn't a rare hunter..." Andre angrily mumbled to himself as we followed to him to the red platform. "How do you know that?" Jack asked as he looked back toward Andre's future opponent who was already rising up in the blue platform. "His black clothing and red contact lenses are kind of convincing to me," Jack finished his sentence with a barely detectable note of satire as Andre slowed down his walking just a bit as we rounded the corner. It was still kind of early, so the sun cast a long shadow on this half of the dueling arena. Andre answered Jack's question, "Some things you just know..." he replied trying to sound equally as sarcastic, but to no avail. Andre had tried before to at least sound funny. But he's too quietly mysterious for that.

Without even turning to us for some words of encouragement, he stepped on the shadowy red platform and slowly rose up with his arms crossed and glare unshifting- straight ahead. The force generated by the upward movement pressed down his black hair only slightly. And a small breeze whisked by causing his brown eyes to squint, making him more intimidating.

"Let's get this over with..." he said angrily simultaneously with energy.

After the shuffling and revealing of bottom cards to Linda, Andre would be going first.

He drew a sixth card and said, "After I set these two cards face down, I'm summoning Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (1800/700) in attack mode."

_Kind of early for THAT card, isn't it?_ I thought to myself as his opponent purposely made an angry face to make his red eyes more frightening. He drew a sixth card and began his turn.

"I'm summoning Blindly Loyal Goblin (1800/1500) in attack mode, followed by two of my own cards face down. And I also activate Bait Doll! It forces the activation of a face down trap card, negates its activation and destroys it depending if the timing is wrong. If the timing is right, somehow, or if it's a magic card, nothing happens and it goes face down again. But either way, my Bait Doll returns to my deck and I shuffle it to bring back the fun later! So I'm activating the one on your right!" he declared as Andre reluctantly flipped over the trap card and sent it to the graveyard. "Oh show me, SHOW me what I got rid of!" the weird guy said. Andre took the card from his graveyard and revealed it to him, "Oooooh! It was a Magic Cylinder! Too bad for you, kid! That's a pretty powerful trap card!" He gleefully shuffled his deck and then examined his hand of two cards for more options. Being happy with what he's just done, he ended his turn and passed to Andre.

He drew a card, bringing his hand to four cards. "It doesn't matter, because with THIS card, traps don't mean a thing!" Whatever duelists were left in the stands each made surprised gasps. Even Doug knew what this meant! _Already?_ I thought. _Wait a minute! I didn't even know he HAD a Jinzo!_ I thought to myself as he sacrificed his Kycoo in order to summon the world-recognized and mechanized monster. "It's Jinzo (2400/1500)!" Andre announced to his rude opponent. "So now all trap cards are useless. And further more, I'm equipping him with Big Bang Shot!" _Holy crap, another rare card! He's played nothing BUT rare cards this whole duel so far!_ I thought somewhat suspiciously to myself as he explained what his equip card did, "It increases my monster's attack by 400. And when it attacks a defense mode monster with an attack higher than the monster's defense, the difference acts as battle damage upon you. However, when this card's destroyed, my Jinzo's also destroyed," Andre fairly reported both the good and bad of his equip card. Most duelists would only state the beneficial parts and leave out the downfall of their card. "Jinzo, attack his goblin for 1000 points of damage!" Andre commanded. Standing up as straight as it possibly could, his Jinzo's red eye goggles lit up and shone a deadly red light upon the goblin standing in front of him. Then his eyewear seemed to explode with red destruction, taking the Blindly Loyal Goblin out in the process, and brining Andre's opponent's life points down to 7000. Up above, the scoreboard showed that familiar green line holding steady at each person's life point amounts.

Andre nicknamed his opponent "Weirdo" without finding out his real name after the duel.

"I'm not worried," Weirdo drew a card sounding non-challant. I'd have bet, though, that he was as nervous as anything with only three cards in his hand with a 2800 attack point Jinzo on the field. "Hah, I'll set another card face down as well as a card in defense mode. Your move!" Weirdo said as he flicked the only card in his hand with his left pointer finger.

Andre drew a card and pondered his move. This was made obvious when he closed his eyes for a short second. It was barely noticeable, but definitely longer than a blink. "I'm summoning Mad Dog of Darkness (1900/1400) in attack mode!" Andre proudly announced. But his smile quickly faded, "Since you've just summoned a monster, that gives me a chance to activate a quick-play magic card, Offerings to the Doomed! At the cost of my next draw phase, I get to destroy one of your face up monsters. And I choose Jinzo. So now trap cards can again be used. Okay, continue your turn," Weirdo smiled as Andre examined his hand for any other options. And judging by how he set his hand down on his platform to itch his forehead with both hands, there were none. "Alright fine," Andre spoke just to break the silence as he decided whether or not to attack. "Mad Dog! Attack his face down monster!" Andre commanded as Weirdo smiled.

"Here's another surprise! E hee hee hee! My face down trap card," he flipped over the card in his center magic/trap zone, "Mask of Weakness lowers your monster's attack by 700 until the end of this turn!" Suddenly, a mask with glowing blue eyes dashed forth from that magic/trap zone slammed itself onto Andre's beast's face as it was running toward Weirdo's face down card. "Hah, not entriely," Andre said, "I'm activating my face down trap card called Blast with Chain! After I activate it, it's treated as an equip magic card. It raises my monster's attack by 500. And once it's destroyed by the effect of another card, I can destroy one monster on the field." He said as his card's attack rose back up to 1700. "An equip SPELL card, eh? Well, don't activate too many more of them, because now I activate my Tower of Babel trap card! As long as it is face up, a spell counter is placed on it every time a spell card is activated by either one of us. Upon the fourth spell card's activation the tower will fall inflicting upon the activator of that fourth magic card 3000 points of damage! Your one trap card doesn't count because I activated this after you played that."

From the depths of his magic/trap zone erupted a huge, endless tower that went all the way up to and surpassed the clouds! It was amazing how fast it grew, too. We all watched in awe as the massive trap card spouted up. Its endless rows could probably be seen from the seaport in which docked the boat that would take all, but one, of us home later today.

"And the best part is that your monster is still attacking!" Weirdo laughed as the masked Mad Dog of Darkness struck his defending monster, The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave (1300/2000). As a result of the failed attack, Andre lost 300 life points. "I'm still winning with 7700, so make your next move," Andre said. As soon s he ended his turn, the Mask of Weakness peeled off of his monster's face and hit the ground with a soft, wooden clunk. It then disintigrated into blue dust and absorbed into his beast, restoring its strength back to 2400.

"I can't draw a card this turn, but I CAN increase my monster's defense. I activate the spell card Yellow Luster Shield!" As soon as he played it face up, a bright green orb emeged from his corresponding holographic zone and sped up to the top of his Tower of Babel trap card. And on Weirdo's virtual card of the Tower, a white number 1 appeared at the top left of the card's artwork. "One down..." Weirdo smirked as he then explained what his card does, "Now, Yellow Luster Shield is a continuous magic card. It raises all my monster's defense by 300. Combining those two facts, my monsters' defense will increase by 300 for every one of my turns that it is on the field. And note that it doesn't not specify face up or face down, so you're already in trouble!" Weirdo tried to instate fear into Andre by stating the obvious... it didn't work too well, "And yet you only have one monster of the field. Ad it's easily destroyed by my Mad Dog of Darkness...?" Andre actually chuckled a bit as he drew a card, boosting his hand to four cards. "I'm summoning Gagagigo (1850/1000) in attack mode!" Andre said. _Wow!_ I thought, suspiciously again. _I never knew how full his deck was of powerful and rare cards!_

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Gagagigo has one of the weirdest monster names out there. It's stats are pretty good for only a level four monster, but HOW do you pronounce that?!?? This is here to offer my opinion/assistance in case you ever encounter one and at least want to SOUND professional, lol. Try pronouncing it [ga-ja-GEE-joe]. If pronounced this way, you avoid sounding stupid by pronouncing it with only hard g's [ga-ga-gee-go]. And [ja-ja-jee-joe] doesn't sound too correct, either. SO this is only my advice/opinion on such a weird issue. Now back to TS16...

"Mad Dog, attack his dragon again!" Andre commanded. Willingly, his beast dashed forward again and reduced his dragon to nothing. It was destroyed, leaving an open field on Weirdo's side. "Attack his life points.... my reptile monster!" Andre didn't want to sound dumb trying to pronounce his card's name again, so he gave it a command, and he obeyed. In the course of about four seconds, his Gagagigo rushed forward with amazing speed, jumped up incredibly high and swiped at Weirdo's dueling platform with his spiked arms, and jumped backwards to where he was summoned. Weirdo's life points went down to 5150.

"So you managed to lengthen your lead, whatever," Weirdo drew a card. "I'm setting a monster in defense mode."

Andre looked at the gigantic tower that had sprouted up from Weirdo's trap card. It wouldn't be long until someone destroyed it early or made it topple... "I'm setting two magic/trap cards face down. Then I attack your defense monster with my reptile," Andre said as his Gagagigo ran up and attacked the monster in hiding. "Don't forget that my Yellow Luster Sheild is still out there!" Weirdo said, almost singing. "This card's defense rose by 300 last turn!" he flipped it over after the attack failed. "You lose 150 life points for attacking my Kyuel (1000/1700)! Care to try again?" he asked.  
"Yes- I do. Attack his fiend card, Mad Dog!" 2400 attack points easily beat out 2000 defense points, but Andre must have never heard of this card before, or else he wouldn't have attacked.

"Hah! By sending him to the graveyard as a result of a battle, I get to flip a coin and call it. If I call it correctly, I get to destroy one of your monsters." A grey-colored holographic coin appeared and came into focus in the center of the arena about fifteen feet off the ground. In red letters surrounded by a plain yellow border was the word "call?". Weirdo said out loud, "Tails!" "Tails" took the place of "call?" and the coin toss began.

The physics of the coin weren't very good; it only stayed in the center of the field now matter where on the coin it bounced. But eventually, the side facing up was defiantely tails.

"Ha, yes! And I'm obviously gettin' rid of your Mad Dog of Darkness! Say good night!" Weirdo said as Kyuel's sword appeared from out of nowhere and skewered Andre's beast, destroying it.

Andre looked annoyed as his opponent drew a card. "Hmm! Now I play the spell card Monster Reborn to bring back your Jinzo!" Weirdo announced. A green light traveled up to the top of the tower, and a number two appeared in the top right corner of the trap card's graphic- halway there. Andre was fully ready to activate a card in response to this, but stopped in his tracks having remembered Jinzo's effect. "Eradicate his reptile monster!" Weirdo commanded to Jinzo. And just like before, he stood up as straight as he could, aimed his palms at the monster and launched his attack, reducing Gagagigo to dust.

"And after all that, my life points are still strong at 7000," Andre stated the obvious, which annoyed Weirdo. Andre drew a card, hoping for something good. "Heh, funny time to draw this!" Andre said more to himself than to anyone else. We were just close enough to hear him. Then said a bit louder, "I'm setting a card in defense mode, one card face down and ending my turn."

"Defense, eh? Well that's boring..." Weirdo drew a card. "BUT, speaking of defense, I hope you haven't forgotten about my Yellow Luster Shield card! Your Jinzo's been getting defense boosts ever since I got it to my side of the field! Right now it's got as many defense points as it does attack points!!" Weirdo smirked all the while he looked at his newly drawn card. "So I'll switch Jinzo to defense mode now and end my turn," Weirdo said.  
"You made a huge mistake my not attacking my face down monster," Andre began as he drew a card. "I'm sacrificing the face down monster, Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) to summon the Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!" As soon as the card was placed on the field, a cloud of darkness gathered up above the monster zone, concealing it in shadow. And in a show of bright blue lightning, constantly strinking the same spot, Andre's Summoned Skull rose up from the ground, as if he had been awakened from the dead. It would have looked almost scary if it wasn't the middle of the morning.  
"But don't worry about an attack quite yet; I've gotta activate my witch's effect first!" Andre smirked competetively as he searched through his deck for a card having 1500 or fewer defense points. He found one, showed it to Linda as proof and then shuffled his deck. Andre, I could tell, was happy with the level of fear and suspense he was creating within Weirdo. And it was obvious, too. With a Summoned Skull on the field having more attack power than his Jinzo, an attack was definately in the near future, especially since Jinzo's own effect prevents it from being protected. (especially since Weirdo HAD no other face down cards at this point to begin with!)

_If Andre attacks, though,_ I began to think, _The tower's effects will be active again. I, personally, would hold off my attack until I can activate key magic cards. But this is Andre's duel, not mine... _We all waited for what Andre was going to do.

He calmly looked at his two remaining cards in his hand, pushed back his not very long hair with his left hand, took in a breeze and yelled, surprising everyone, "ATTACK!" And with a single word, his fiend monster's green eyes dimly lit up, fully aware of what he was about to do. Weirdo anxiously waited as the attacking monster fiercely whipped his right arm up. Its bony palm was facing towards the sky. And his left arm was bent, hand grabbing the right elbow as a brilliant blast of blue lightning bursted from within the shadow monster. In a bolting arc of electricity, the attack wasted no time in seeking out and destroying the machine monster in a huge explosion... yeah, as it says on the card, "this monster BOASTS considerable force."  
Andre calmly informed, "It's your turn now!"  
Weido drew a card, exhaled a sigh of relief as set it in defense mode. He then stated, "It's not its DEFENSE points you should be worried about! ...even though it does get 300..." He then laughed and ended his turn.

"So it's an effect, eh? I'm not scared," Andre said to himself as he drew a card. He was about to play something in attack mode, but stopped himself, "I'm going right to my battle phase!" Andre declared.  
"That was fast," Weirdo said, puzzled.  
"Attack his defense monster!" Andre commanded his fiend card. And just as before, a brilliant bolt of lightning surged through his defense monster. This time it was, "Ah crap, a Cyber Jar (900/1200)!!" Andre said a bit disappointed. "Fine, then- whatever, let's get this over with. I'm sure we both know what to do..." Andre tiredly said.

Weirdo drew the cards Bubble Crash, Spatial Collapse, Ryu Kokko (level 6), Earthbound Spirit (level 4) and Castle of Dark Illusions (level 4). He set both fiend cards.  
Andre drew the cards Pot of Greed, Magician of Faith (level 1), Waboku, Man-Eater Bug (level 2) and Skilled Dark Magician (level 4). He summoned his Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) and set the other two monsters.

At this very point in time, both duelists had five cards in their hands.  
"For my Main Phase 2, I'll set one card face down and normal summon my Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode! Your move," Andre said after overlooking his assembly of monsters.

"You may have strength in numbers," Weirdo drew a card. "But I've got power! I'm sacrificing my face down Earthbound Spirit(500/2000) to summon my Ryu Kokki (2400/2000)!" The sacrificed Earthbound Spirit morphed into a tiny bloue ball of light and hovered about in the zone of which it was originally set. As soon as Weirdo played his zombie card, the blue ball grew larger and turned a deep crimson. It pulsed and glowed and began to sprout out bones, ribs and other such related things. Soon enough, an entire monster made almost entriely out of skulls was calmly sitting down, on arm on the opposite knee, in a monster zone. "Now here are the GOOD parts! Due to my Yellow Luster Shield spell card, ALL my monsters get a defense boost of 300. And now I flip over my face down card, Castle of Dark Illusions! (920/2230)! Once it's flipped, I get to increase the attack AND defense of all zombies by 200 points. That raises my Ryu Kokki's power to 2600 attack and 2500 defense! And it's not over, during each of my standby phases, this will continue to happen until my 4th turn after I've flipped the card! Attack his Skilled Dark Magician!" Weirdo commanded his monster.

Slowly, it stood up but stood perfectly still. Its red core began to glow and pulse faster now. The birghtness continued to intensify until, in one huge attack, a deadly red beam of light came rushing towards Andre's spellcaster card. Andre just looked, unimpressed at the whole thing. It then became obvious to me that he could have activated any one of his face down cards to protect himself, he just didn't feel like it... But his Skilled Dark Magician was destroyed, causing 700 points of damage to Andre.

"Is that all you got??" Andre antagonized Weirdo and glared at him with a cynical look on his face.

"Don't you worry. I'm also setting this one card face down," Werido snapped back. "This is only the beginning, I assure you!" He laughed and ended his turn.

Andre drew a card. "This looks like a good time to activate this, Pot of Greed!" A third green light went up to the top of the tower. A dim, slightly darker green light could now be seen glowing from the top of the tower. And a white number three appeared at the bottom left of Weirdo's trap card as Andre filled his hand to six cards.

"THAT was a horrible move, buddy!" Weirdo laughed as he flipped over his only face down card, "I'm activating Bubble Crash! It's one of those trap cards that can really screw over my opponent! Here's how it works: It can only be activated when either one of us has six or more cards either in our hand or on the field. After I activate this, it forces us to send cards to the graveyard until the number of cards in our hands and on the field is five. Since my hand and field both have five cards in them, YOU are the only one affected by this, ha ha ha. So pick and lose," Weirdo said as Andre looked at his hand and field to figure out what cards he could send to the graveyard.

_He's got a tough choice_, I began to think. _He has six cards in his hand and seven cards on the field. How will he choose?_ I finished my thoughts as he started to send cards to the graveyard.

"From my hand, I'm sending my Monster Reborn to the graveyard. And from my side of the field, I'm sending these two cards I had face down, Mystical Space Typhoon and Metalmorph," Andre finished. As soon as Andre said the word Metalmorph, Weirdo's face lit up. "If you don't mind, could you tell me the three-letter code on that card?" he politely asked.  
Although he didn't really want to, Andre complied, "FMR."  
"That card is from that Forbidden Memories video game... Well anyway, all I can say is that, no matter WHO wins this duel, you will be removing at least one card from your deck!" Weirdo implied something sinister about "at least one" of Andre's cards. He wondered what Weirdo could mean as he look at the undawn cards of his deck. There were still quite a few to go through.

"Anyway, it's still your move. Continue," Weirdo said with a snicker.

"Fine..." Andre said with his attention now focused on his hand of five cards. "I think I'll get my Monster Reborn back by flipping over my Magician of Faith (300/400)," Andre began. This move was obviously well planned out. "Next, since I don't yet have a monster in my hand able to clash with your zombie, I'll set this in defense mode. Finally, one magic/trap card is going face down. Your move," Andre finished his move, leaving his Maha Vailo in attack mode for some reason.

"Alright then," Weirdo drew a card. "It's my standby phase which means that my zombie card gets a 200 attack and defense increase. This is the first turn since I've activated my castle's effect," he said as his Ryu Kokki's stats raised to (2800/2700). "And I'll use my Yellow Luster Shield's effect to raise both my monsters' defense by 300!" Andre was getting frustrated. You could tell because his right eyebrow was lowered slightly more than his left eyebrow. They weren't obvious signs to just anybody. But once you got to know Andre, everything he does is for a reason.

"Now attack his Maha Vailo!" Weirdo ordered. Just like last time, his red center began to pulsate and glow. But right before the attack could be launched, Andre said, "Activating trap card!" As soon as he flipped it over, a huge circle appeared around his Maha Vailo and made her shrink into two orange balls of fire. Weirdo's Ryu Kokki stopped its attack since nothing was there aymore to attack. "I've activated Ring of Destruction and used it on my Maha Vailo. Now we'll both take damage equal to her attack points!" he announced as the fireballs dashed off toward each duelist. Upon colliding with them, 1550 points of damage were received by them both.  
"Why didn't you use my zombie monster??" Werido asked.  
"It's all part of the challenge. Besides, I wouldn't want us to lose TOO many life points. I wouldn't want the final effect of your tower to go to waste, ha ha ha ha!" Andre laughed as they both watched the tower sway slightly from side to side. It's a wonder that huge structure could still be standing. As I looked again at it, I wondered who would be the one to ultimately make it fall? Would it be Weirdo or Andre? BOTH of them _must_ have at least one magic card in their hand. So who would sacrifice a whopping 3000 life points just to activate it??

"Anyway, the replay rules come into effect now because there is a different number of my monsters on the field than when you began this battle. Are you attacking still?" Andre asked.

"Hah, you know it! Ryu Kokki, attack his Magician of Faith!" Weirdo said. The zombie's attack made quick work of Andre's spellcaster.

"My turn now," Andre drew a card to make his hand a total of five cards.

"I think it's time I start to take control of this duel," Andre said. "I'm fed up with these bone-headed strategies. It's time for brute force! So I sacrifice my other, face down Gagagigo (1850/1000) to summon my all-powerful Great Maju Garzett!" I was completely surprised when I heard this monster's name. I've wanted that card ever since I found out it existed! As soon as it was summoned, its attack points started at zero, but then slowly beeped up, confusing Weirdo.  
"What are you trying to pull?? How can such a powerful monster only require one tribute monster?" Weirdo asked Andre as he doubted the monster's true strength, despite its attack reaching and surpassing the 2000 mark.

"I take it you've never heard of this fiend monster before. It's got a very special effect. You remember that Gagagigo I sacrificed to summon it? Well, Great Maju Garzett's attack points equal the the attack points of the sacrificed monster DOUBLED!" Andre informed as the attack power went past the 3000 mark.

"Ah crap! 1850 doubled is-!" And the attack power of Great Maju Garzett stopped at, "3700!" Weirdo panicked and supplied us all with useless information, "Even if you had allowed my zombie monster to power up for the full effect of my castle, its attack power STILL wouldn't be enough to take it on!"

"That's right," Andre said. "And now! Attack his Ryu Kokki!" His fiend card didn't move, except for his right arm which he extended in front of him, plam facing the ground. A dark musk gathered at the center of his hand as he flipped it over slowly. Anxiously, Weirdo watched as his opponent's secret weapon's attack grow bigger and darker. Then, just when it seemed like it was taking too long, the following assault of darkness was comparable to nothing. Not even the Blue Eyes's attack could compare to the awesome power this monster presented. In a few short seconds, Weirdo's zombie card suffered the full force of the attack, unable to do anything to defend himself, and was destroyed. Weirdo's life points lowered to 2700.

Weirdo spoke somewhat nervously, "As- as long... as long as my monsters are in defense, no harm can come to me!" He drew a card. And it had been so long since he had played a card that he now had seven cards in his hand. "I'm setting one card in defense mode," Weirdo began. His castle's defense rose to 2830.  
"That's right- fall into my trap!" Andre mumbled obviously not thinking anybody heard him.

"Then I'm setting one card face down. It's your turn now," Weirdo finisihed his turn and drew a fifth card, "Activating trap card, Spatial Collapse! It can be activated when there are no more than five cards on each of our sides of the field. This card makes it so that five is the maximum limit of cards we can have on the field!" As soon as he activated it, the whole arena darkened to a point just enough so the players and Linda could see what was happening. Weirdo already had five cards on the field, he had reached his limit. But on Andre's side, there was one monster zone and one magic/trap zone lit up, signifying that he could play a card. And he did...

"I'm not activating the equip SPELL card..." much of the stadium gasped. "Andre! What are you doing?!??" Jack said to him in surprise. He just looked down at us slyly and put his right pointer finger up as if to say, "Hang on- I've got a great idea!"

"Fairy Meteor Crush!" he played the limiting card which also sent the fourth green orb to the top of the tower. It looked very appropriate in this black setting. But it wouldn't be there for long. Once the green orb reached the top, the dark green glow suddenly vanished and began to travel down the tower in the form of cracks and chipped stone. The base of the tower began to crumble and Andre looked up at the top of it, trying to gauge if this would hurt a lot or not. Pieces of it beagn to fall from the middle to top parts, which means it was still KIND of structurally intact... Then suddenly, Linda shouted, "This is the first time EVER that someone's activated the fourth magic card to set this trap off. Just remember that it's only holographic and can't REALLY hurt you, despite how scary this looks."

Almost ignoring what she said, Andre just kept looking ahead, with a face of stone, looking at the blinking red number four at the bottom right of the fading trap card. High above, the tower began to tilt. And the base was all but completely cracked. "Alright! This is IT!" Andre psyched himself out and braced himself against his platform, eyes still dead ahead of him.

The first large chunk of tower fell right toward Andre. But to everyone's surprise, the holographic piece of rock never even made contact with his platform. As the pieces got closer, they faded out of view, but the whole thing still hurt- alot, it could be figured out, by his supressed yelling.

Showing only the slightest bit of compassion for his opponent, Weirdo asked Linda, "How can these holographic things hurt? No real contact is made,"

The tower continued to fall as Linda answered, "The pain one feels is very small electric shocks sent out into the air. Sometimes, depending on the wind, you may not even feel them..."

After a few more seconds of unbelievably loud sound effects of crashing and crumbling, Andre's suffering ended, and his life points sank to a dangerously low 1750.  
"Ha ha ha, perfect," Andre said, regaining his strength. "I've equipped my Fairy Meteor Crush to my Great Maju Garzett! It doesn't increase his attack or defense power, but it enables his to do soemthing very special..." Andre trailed of as he looked at Weirdo. Weirdo simply said, "I've never even HEARD of this card before, tell me what it does." Andre explained, "When a monster equipped with this card attacks a defense monster with lower defense than the attacking monster's attack, the difference between the attack and defense of the two monsters is inflict towards you as damage!" Weirdo gasped as he looked at both of his monsters in defense mode, "Crap! So I'm gonna lose either way!!" Weirdo complained in an annoyed voice.

"Great Maju Garzett, attack his Castle of Dark Illusions!" Even though both of these monsters were of dark and were both fiends, the super powerful Great Maju Garzett unleashed his powerful attack, completely annihilating the defending castle. And, due to Fairy Meteor Crush, Weirdo lost 850 life points, bringing his total to 1850!

Weirdo drew a card and set it in defense mode, well aware of his impending doom. "Can we hurry this up, please?" Weirdo asked.

"Sure," Andre said as he drew a card. I'll attack the card you have just set.  
And after another dazzling dark show, Weirdo's defending Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1900) was destroyed, leaving Weirdo with a mere 50 life points.

"This is so stupid," Weirdo said as he drew a card and did nothing.

It was then Andre's last turn. He flipped over his face down Man-eater Bug (450/600) using its effect to get rid of his opponent's final face down card. "Attack his life points directly!" Andre ordered his monster.

Happily, the creature of anti-light recklessly launched his attack one last time, striking with Weirdo, full force. If negative numbers were possible in this game, Weirdo would have -3650. It was overkill, quite obviously. But Andre is the kind of duelist who likes to make SURE he's won.

The three platforms lowered to the ground, and Andre met with Linda and his recently defeated opponent. We didn't get to see the card that Andre chose from Weirdo's deck, and he never told us- at least I don't think so. But it wasn't too important; my next duel against Christina would be next... "In five minutes," as Linda said, "So I can get myself some sunscreen."


	17. Tournament Stories part 17

Tournament Stories part 17

Linda soon returned with a hat and a bottle of sunscreen to make the rest of her day more comfortable. Christina and I were casually chatting to one another about this and that, not really making any kind of connection. We were just wasting time until Linda showed up.

She looked at both of us and said, "Okay, duelists number 1 and number 4. Each of you have won your first round of the final five. But one of you are about to lose and win $500. The other will win and win at LEAST $500. So shuffle each other's decks now, because there's something wrong with that card machine thing we've got.

Christina and I smiled briefly at each other as we shuffled the decks. Then we decided right there who would go first, and it would be Christina.

"Okay, I'm summoning Kabazauls (1700/1500) in attack mode!" A huge purple dinosaur that looked like a bloated hippo emerged from her center monster zone. It had snot hanging out of its nose, which I thought was gross...

"Alright," I drew my sixth card, Cyber Jar. "I'm summoning Opticlops (1800/1700) in attack mode and attack your dinosaur!" My fiend monster focused its only eye on the water monster and attacked it with a huge red beam of destructive light. Her monster was destroyed, and she lost 100 life points.

"Very well," she said as she drew a card. "I'm setting one monster face down and activating the field card A Legendary Ocean. From now on, its name is treated as "Umi" and it downgrades all water type monsters in our hands and on the field by one level, meaning that a level five monster is now a level four monster- easily summonable. Also, the attack and defense of such monsters increases by 200 points." When she activated that field card, water seemed to fall from the sky in massive amounts. As it continued to fall, a huge ancient underwater complex rose from the bottom of Christina's field. As the water continued to fall, the arena was filling up with water, completely submerging my Opticlops. For a second, I thought he'd drown. But he wasn't real and the water wasn't real. So I got rid of those foolish thoughts. My monster was fine. And I could still see him because when the water finished falling, it became clear giving both of us perfect visibility. "That's it for now, your turn," she said as I pondered what the set monster could be.  
_I'm thinkin' it's a monster with relatively high defense. So I probably shouldn't attack it. Then again, if she has a level seven monster in her hand, she can treat it like a level six monster and tribute that face down monster, and then I'll really be in trouble!_ I looked at my deck and remembered that I hardly had any water type monsters as I drew my next card, Fear from the Dark. Two cards from the far left, I noticed that I held a particularly good card. It never hurts to have it on the field. So, "I'm sacrificing my Opticlops to summon MY Jinzo (2400/1500) in attack mode!" Below me and to my left, I heard Andre say, "I shoulda guessed that Jinzo wouldn't be too rare of a card, " And off in the distance, I could have sworn I heard someone say, "Come ON! Summon a monster I HAVEN'T seen before!" I got angry at the guy, even though I'm not too sure who it was. Although I wouldn't have been surprised if it was Jon.

"Jinzo, attack her face down monster!" I thought, for a second that Jinzo wouldn't be able to survive down there since he was a machine monster. But again, I forgot that none of this is real, so the rules of nature can be bent, here. So anyway, he obediently focused his eyewear on the face down card and unleashed his trademark attack, blasting away the Serpentine Princess (1600/2200). The redness of his attack looked pretty cool as it was amplified by the clear water. "Your turn now," I said.

She quietly drew a card and smiled politely, "First, I'm activating the continuous magic card Convulsion of Nature! It forces us to continue this duel with our decks upside down. I flipped mine over revealing one of my Gagagigos! That's cool, since its a water type monster. I also saw that her top card was a Waboku. "Next, I'm increasing both of our life points by 1000, by activating Rain of Mercy." A light holographic shower sprinkled on both of us, generously increasing our life points. "Now I'm removing my destroyed Serpentine Princess from play in order to special summon my Aqua Spirit (1800/1400) in attack mode. Then I'm normally summoning one monster face down in defense, your move now," she informed me.

I drew my Gagagigo revealing the Bait Doll underneath it. Christina interrupted, "It's your Standby Phase now. That means that my Aqua Spirit can change one of your face up monster's battle positions. So your Jinzo is obviously being switched to defense. And he must remain this way for the rest of your turn. Okay, continue," she said as I had a flashback of when she used that same card's effect on Jack's Dancing Fairy.

"Alright, I'm summoning Gagagigo (2050/1200) and attacking your Aqua Spirit with him!" My Gagagigo swiftly swam forward and used its arms' spikes to slash at her aqua card, destroying it, and bringing Christina's life points down to 8650. Mine were still strong at 9000.

"Oh, that's unfortunate..." she said as she drew her Waboku. Underneath was her Crab Turtle. _Crab Turtle! I haven't seen that monster in such a long time!_ I thought as she continued her turn. "I'm setting one card face down and then removing my Kabazauls and Aqua Spirit from play to special summon my Fenrir (1600/1400) in attack mode. And now it's attacking your Jinzo." With lightning speed, even underwater, this wolf-like beast lurched forward and slashed away at Jinzo. Since it was in defense mode and not a water monster, its 1500 defense couldn't hold up to the beast's 1600 attack and therefore destroyed my Jinzo. "Now its special effect activates!" Her almost monotonous voice perked up for the first time since Jack and I dueled her and Alex. "When Fenrir destroys a monster, you must skip your next draw phase!" I looked at my hand of five cards not caring for the recent effect just activated. SHE, on the other hand, had something to worry about. She had zero cards in her hand and a weak 1600 attack monster on the field.

"You may have stopped me from drawing at my DRAW PHASE. But that doesn't stop the effects of certain cards like my Painful Choice! I select any five cards from my deck and show them to you. Then you choose which one goes into my hand. And the card doesn't even say that I have to shuffle! Here I go..." I said as she waited for me to select five cards from my deck. After I selected them, I put them on the special card image readers at the bottom of my field. "I've chosen," I put the cards on the spaces, "Jowls of Dark Demise, La Jinn, Giant Germ, Offerings to the Doomed and Wall of Illusion. Which one goes into my hand?" I asked. Almost immediately, she responded, "La Jinn!"

Suprised by this sudden answer, I added him to my hand and went on with my turn by setting one card in defense mode.

She drew her Crab Turtle which was covering her Giant Trunade. "Now Fenrir attacks your defense monster," her voice leveled out again as the beast made quick work of my defending Big Eye (1200/1000). "My Big Eye's effect activates- I get to see the top five cards in my deck, arrange them however I like, then place them back on top of my deck." "It's a shame that Fenrir keeps preventing you from drawing, though," she joked, almost laughing herself. I kept the Bait Doll on top, only rearranging the bottom four cards. "I end my turn, and you cannot draw," she reminded me as I yanked my hand away from my deck.

_Okay, so I can't draw... AH! Why don't I just attack and get rid of that damn thing already?!_ I yelled at myself. Going straight to my battle phase, I declared, "And now my Gagagigo will attack your Fernrir!" He swam forward, and almost slashed at the beast. But as I predicted, Waboku was activated, and clear bubbles that were stonger than they looked appeared around both of her monsters.

"My turn," Christina said softly, almost as if she were falling asleep. She drew her Giant Trunade which revealed her Piranha Army below it. Seeing this, she commented, "Oh! I don't wish to draw that card yet. So I'm going to activate my Giant Trunade now and return all magic and trap cards to their owner's hands." With that, a massive windstorm stuck the holographic ocean and wiped clean her magic/trap zone. But it wasn't for long because as soon as she got it back, she activated Legendary Ocean again, and the water filled the place up once more.  
"I'm confused," Doug said who was standing behind Andre, "If Giant Trunade is a magic card that returns ALL magic and trap cards to the hands of their owner, then why doesn't Giant Trunade itself get returned?"

I was about to answer, but Andre stuck up his right hand's index finger at me and said, "Just win. I'll handle this kid." I was about to laugh at what he said. But, judging by the look on Andre's face, it wasn't meant to be a joke. "Once a magic card is activated, it is immediately destroyed after its effect has taken its course, unless it is continuous or a field card. So even though Giant Trunade is a magic card, it's been ACTIVATED, which means it's, for this conversation's purposes, dead as soon as it's put on the field, unless it's chained. Got it?" Andre explained as simply as he could. After a few seconds, Doug replied, "Actually, yeah!" And Andre just chuckled to himself silently.

_Oh crap! Now that Convulsion of Nature isn't on the field, I'm drawing from the TOP of my deck instead of the bottom! So that means that my Big Eye's effect was for nothing!_ I suddenly realized as Christina finished her move, "I'm switching my Fenrir to defense mode, and ending my turn."

From the top of my deck, I drew my other Giant Germ. But I decided to do something different, "I'm summoning my La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (1800/1000) in attack mode!" She looked a bit worried when she looked at the field. Two of my monsters in attack mode with high attack. And two of her monsters in defense. "La Jinn, attack her Fenrir!" Being a genie and not really needing to breathe, he quickly drifted up to the beast and turnd himself into an underwater cyclone, catching the Fenrir in it's torrential force and destroying it. "Gagagigo, attack the face down card!" After another show of swim and slash, her defending Weather Report (1150/1700) was destroyed. "Your turn," I said happily. To be honest, I wondered how she got this far in the tournament...

"This is more like it," she said calmly. "I'm summoning Terrorking Salmon (2600/1200) in attack mode." From the ancient underwater city appeared a strong-looking bony fish with two glowing orange eyes. It's fins and mouth looked extremely dangerous, not to mention sharp. "Attack his Gagagigo, please," she asked her fish card. _"Please"??_ I mentally made fun of her. But being more agile in the water than my reptile, her Terrorking Salmon fiercely swam to my Gagagigo. And with one quick swipe of its tail, my monster was destroyed, bringing my life points down to 8450. Hers were 200 points higher. I wondered how much longer this would take if she and I kept getting in chinsey hits like this...

I drew my next card, Nobleman of Crossout. It's so rare and so powerful. But I set my Giant Germ and switched La Jinn to defense mode, ending my turn.

Christina drew her next card, set one monster in defense and attacked my La Jinn, easily destroying it.

On my next turn, I drew one of my Summoned Skulls. Slightly angry knowing that even if I did get it on the field, it wouldn't be strong enough to defeat the fish card out, I thought, _It's a shame that there's no field card (that I know of) that lowers dark monsters' levels..._ "Alright, I'm activating the magic card Nobleman of Crossout. It destroys one face down monster and removes it from play. If the card destroyed has a flip effect, we both search our decks for cards of the same name and remove THEM from play as well. Then we shuffle our decks, no matter what. So I'm destroying the only face down card you have," I said as she revealed her hidden monster. "It's my Gale Lizard (1600/900)! And it DOES have a flip effect. I get to return one monster on your side of the field to your hand! So it'll be the only monster you've got, there," she said as we then carried out the rest of my magic card's effects.

After I shuffled my deck, I looked at my hand with the recently returned Giant Germ. With nothing to lose, I decided to set my Cyber Jar face down, and hoped for the best from my deck.

She drew a card and immediately summoned it, "I'm summoning Deepsea Warrior (1800/2000) in attack mode. And he attacks your defense monster!"  
"HA! That'd be my Cyber Jar (900/900)! Say goodbye to your fishies!" I taunted as the Cyber Jar exploded. The resulting shockwave vaporized all the other monsters.

We followed the Cyber Jar's instructions... (It seemed like the Cyber Jar was appearing more often than not in this whole tournament...) I picked up the cards Last Will, Archfiend Soldier (level 4), Man-Eater Bug (level 2), Sangan (level 3) and Infernalqueen Archfiend (level 4).  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE... Perhaps one of the most controversial monster cards out there is the Infernalqueen Archfiend. The card reads: "The controller of this card pays 500 life point during each of his/her Standby Phases (this is not optional). When this card is specifically designated as a target of the effect of a card controlled by your opponent, when resolving the effect, roll a six-sided die. If the result is 2 or 5, negate the effect and destroy the opponent's card. As long as this card remains on the field, during each Standby Phase, increase the ATK of 1 Archfiend monster by 1000 points."  
This is what many people call a "broken card" because its English translation was so indecesicive from Japanese that such a kick-ass effect managed to break free. After conducting a bit of research, I've discovered that the card was originally supposed to boost 1 archfiend's attack by 1000 only until the end of that turn. Obviously, that's not what it says on the English version. And not only that, but this card isn't even that rare! That means that such a powerful card could gain strength quickly. It's even safe from Trap Hole due to its initial attack amount. Plus, if it is targetred by a card effect, you've got a 1/3 chance that the effect will not take place. Further more, you could even choose to boost up the queen's attack power for each Standby Phase, meaning it'll increase very rapidly for sure. I'm just tossing this out there, making you all aware of interesting oddities among the cards; look at Sanga of the Thunder's effect for another interesting effect. Now back to TS17...  
  
She picked up the cards Collected Power, Koistu (level 10), Cold Wave, 7 Colored Fish (level 4) and Island Turtle (level 4).

I summoned my Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500), my Infernalqueen Archfiend (900/1500) and set the other two.

She summoned her 7 Colored Fish (2000/1000) and set her Island Turtle (1300/2200).

"Gee, I wonder if you're a fiend duelist?" Christina almost sarcastically said. I wondered why her voice sounded so bored and boring all the time.

"Yeah, I guess I am!" I politely replied as I rolled my mind's eye.

"Well now, it's still my battle phase. So, 7 Colored Fish, attack his face down card next to his Archfiend Soldier!" The multi-colored fish swiftly swam toward the hidden card and skewed it with its fangs.

"That was my Man-Eater Bug (450/600). And his flip effect allows me to destroy one monster. I choose your fish, there," I said as my insect card exploded as soon as the fish destroyed it, taking them both out. "Oh my," was all Christina could say.

"It's my go, now." I said as I drew my Master Kyonshee. It was then my Stnadby Phase, I paid 500 life points to increase my Infernalqueen Archfiend's attack to 1900. I gave my hand another look. Then I spotted my Last Will AND my Summoned Skull, _Perfect!_ I thought. _This duel's almost over!_

"I'm now activating one of the most looked over magic cards in the game, Last Will. During the rest of my turn, if a monster of mine is sent to the graveyard, I can select a monster from my deck with 1500 attack points of less and play it as a special summon. It doesn't specify face up or face down. Then I shuffle the deck. So here I go! I'm sacrificing my other face down monster, Sangan, to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200)! Since I sent my Sangan to the graveyard, I get to special summon a monster with 1500 or fewer attack points from my deck onto the field. I choose my Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) in attack mode. And Sangan's also got a special effect of his own. When he's sent to the graveyard, I get to bring a monster with 1500 attack points of less from my deck to my hand. Then I shuffle it." I paused to breathe after that long speech. I even heard a few "Wow!"'s out in the crowd as I moved all these cards everywhere, not to mention my strong team on the field. So I flipped through my deck and added Magician of Faith to my hand, under the paranoid suspicion that Christina was planning something under that permanently calm exterior.

Then I began my assault, "Summoned Skull, attack her only defending card!" With a jolt of bight blue lightning, beautifully amplified by the conductivity of the water, the Island Turtle was quickly destroyed. "Attack her life points, Witch of the Black Forest!" A strange black force gathered around the witch's eye in her forehead. Then she suddenly tilted her head toward Christina's platform and opened her eyes, releasing a violent green and black attack, bringing her life points down to 7550. "You're up, my Archfiend Solider! Show her why fiends are the best!" With a skillful combination of speed and strength, he whisked through the water right toward her dueling platform, took a huge gash at her platform and fell back down, splashed into the water. Her life points were now 5650. "Your turn, your majesty. Attack her now!" My Infernalqueen Archfiend happily complied with an evil smile, bearing her fangs and glowing her red eyes. Then she focused her vision on Christina and attacked her with a concentrated beam of power, sinking her life points further to 3750! I was now winning by a full 4200!

"I'll end my turn now. And so my Last Will is now destroyed," I said. Behind me, I heard Andre say, "I want that card!!" _I'm sure you've got it stashed away somewhere..._ I thought as Christina drew a card with despair. It was her Standby Phase. I increased my Infernalqueen's attack by another 1000, reaching 2900. But then she smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile, either. No, this smile was more like a "It's time for you to eat your own words now" smile.

"I summon Tribe-Infecting Virus (1800/1200) in attack mode." Many gasps were heard, mainly among Andre and a few of the rare hunters in the stands. I looked toward the spot where she summoned the monster, but all I saw was some glowing green gas that floated freely about the square it was summoned in. I felt uncomfortable not knowing what was in store for me. Surely it can't just be the 1800 attack points...

"And now I activate its special effect!" she announced, actually ANNOUNCED! I was nearly toppled over as I heard her voice **boom** for the first time ever. "By discarding one card from my hand, I declare and destroy all face up monsters of the declared type on both sides of the field. So I'm discarding Convulsion of Nature to declare and destroy all FIENDS!" She slapped her one magic card in the graveyard, causing the green gas to expand to all five monster zones on her side of the field. Then it came toward me like a huge wall. It came into contact with all of my monsters. But if they were a fiend card, they struggled and suffocated as a result of coming in contact with this toxin. My one spellcaster card remained, the other three fiends were wiped off my field.

"And now I'll get rid of my Collected Power to get rid of your spellcaster!" Again, the one single virus spread out into a wall and toppled over my witch, sending her to the graveyard, enabling me to take a monster with 1500 defense or less and adding it to my hand. And it was kind of distressing because I was apparently running low on monsters. I have too many cards that allow me get monsters straight from my deck. I should probably do something about that. But I ended up choosing my Berserk Gorilla. "Attack him directly," she commanded. The green gas drifted up towards me and surrounded me. It got so thick that I couldn't see my own cards. Apparenty, that was supposed to be its attack, but I guess it's hard to think up ways for holographic germs to not hurt someone, ha ha ha. Anyway, my life points went down to 6150.  
I drew one of my most reliable cards, Poison of the Old Man. It's got such good effects to choose from. And, no matter which one you choose, it will always end up helping you. So I set that quick play magic card face down. Now, what to do about that germ card thingy... _She MUST discard a card from her hand in order to activate the effect. And it only works of face UP monsters. So I'll toy with her and set monsters for a while_, I thought as I set my Giant Germ again.

"That's all? My turn, then," she said with confidence and drew a card. "Now I'll summon GIGA Gagagigo (2650/1700) in attack mode._CRAP!_ I thought as the mechanical reptile took form on the field, powerfully signaling its arrival.

"Tribe-Infecting Virus attacks your defending monster," she said. "AFTER I activate this, Poison of the Old Man.I'm increasing my life points by 1200." I bumped my life points back up to 7350. The virus made quick work of my Giant Germ, which brought her life points down by 500. Since the only other Giant Germ I own was already in the graveyard, I just shuffled my deck and prepared my the direct attack.

"Giga Gagagigo," she perfectly pronounced his name, "Attack his life points directly!" With a single jump, he rocketed toward me like a rocket. Then with his numerous spikes and claws, he took a 2650 size chunk of my life points. The score was 3250 to 4700.

_I can't be sneaky anymore,_ I thought as her smile slightly faded. _I've got get rid of both her monsters, or at least that virus thing._ I drew my Rush Recklessly and almost cried tears of joy. Well, not really...

"I summon Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000) in attack mode! Then I'll set this one card face down. Berserk Gorilla now attacks your Tribe-Infecting Virus!" Even though he was a mammal completely surrounded by water, that didn't stop his fiery breath attack from steaming up the sea and evaporating her formidable aqua card. Her life points went down to 3050. Her life points bar was still yellow. _Heh, I guess it turns red at the 3000 mark..._ I thought the obvious.

"Hmm..." Christina was considering the situation as she drew a card. "You're expecting me to attack your gorilla, therefore allowing you to activate whatever card that is. Well I'm not going to let you destory my powerful reptile with such obvious tactics. I'm setting one card face down and ending my turn."

_Crap! I forgot about my gorilla's effect. It MUST attack every time it is able, whether he'd lose the battle or not! Luckily, she set that other monster for him to attack... but I'll bet it's just bait with some killer effect._ I considered my options before I drew a card. Then I drew none other than the Dark Necrofear. It's art is so cool. And I love how rare it is. But then it hit me, _Oh man, his attack is LOWER than her reptile's!... Waaaaiiiit!_ And I smiled evilly, _That's exactly what I need, isn't it?_ "Heh heh heh," I quietly laughed to myself, proud of the plan I've just come up with.

"Consider this your Atlantis, Christina! I'm about to sink your chances of winning this duel!" I triumphantly announced. "Ugh!" "Oh man, can it with the lame metaphors!" "I definately want to duel HIM next!" I heard random voices say. Come to think of it, perhaps I did take it over the top...

"First I set one card in defense," It was my Magician of Faith, as a safegaurd. "And now I remove the Giant Germ... Opticlops... and Jowls of Dark Demise in my graveyard from play to special summon my Dark Necrofear (2200/2800) in attack mode! Now I'll use my Berserk Gorilla's effect and have him attack your face down monster." With that flame attack, he burned up and sank her Yomi Ship which destroyed my gorilla, in turn, by its effect. "And now my Dark Necrofear attacks your Giga Gagagigo!" With an unchanging face or body language, my evilest of fiends pointed its right hand at the machanized reptile and infested the water with darkness. But Giga Gagagigo wasn't dying, exactly how I planned. Eventually, the darkness tried to concentrate around him, but wasn't strong enough to take him out. Her reptile, tired of this reverse light show dashed through the water to my Dark Necrofear and sliced in in two, destroying it, brining my life points down to 4250. I then smiled and calmly, clearly stated, "I end my turn."

As soon as I finished saying that, a bight black sphere emerged from my graveyard. It hovered in the air in front of my for a second or two and then whizzed straight into her Giga Gagagigo, possessing it. Then the darkened reptile dragged its feet making its way over to my side of the field, mindlessly facing his previous conrtoller, now shocked at the sudden turn of events.

"H-how! What just happened?" Doug asked aloud. I didn't even turn this time because as soon as we heard the question, Andre began answering the question, explaining the Dark Necrofear's effect.

"I have very few options," Christina began speaking in her regualr tone again, "That was a great, well-planned move, though!" She congratulated me. "But I'm afraid you shall win next turn," she said, trying to stall as much as she could...

"? Are you surrending, Christina?" I asked, wishing she wouldn't.

"No... I'm here until you beat me," she rebelliously stated.

"Very well, it's your move," I reminded her as she looked at her deck.

She drew a card and did a double take at it. Everyone noticed and some even laughed at the expression of disbelief she revealed towards her newly drawn card.

"Here we go!" she almost announced. "I'm activating Turtle Oath!" she said as I looked at her, not believing it. "Do you actually have a monster with 8 level stars?" I asked. "I do. Have you forgotten about the Koitsu that I picked up because of your Cyber Jar?" she asked as she sent her level 9 monster to the graveyard in order to summon the powerful Crab Turtle (2750/2700) in attack mode. "With this, I shall take control of this duel. Crab Turtle! Attack the Giga Gagagigo!" As soon as she commanded her aqua card to attack I flipped over my card in wait, Rush Recklessly which increases any card's attack by 700 for the rest of the turn. "Oh darn..." she commented as her reptile absorbed a cyclone of dark green energy emerging from the ocean's floor. His attack soared to 3350. It defended itself against the Crab Turtle's aggressive assault and struck back with his spikes, destroying it, lowering Christina's life points to 2450. All that remained on her field was her one field card and whole bunch of air bubbles where her Crab Turtle used to be. "...Good duel!" she smiled as I drew my final card, my other Gagagigo and attacked her directly with her own monster.

Our duel platforms lowered. Linda met us on the side of the arena and congratulated both of us on a well-played duel. To Christina, Linda awarded her with $500 in a sealed envelope. I took Christina's Tribe-Infecting Virus and put it with the other cards I've won so far that didn't go in deck... Empress Judge, Mr. Volcano, Spiritualism, Numinous Healer and De-Fusion.

"I hope to see and duel you again!" Chistina kindly smiled in a quiet and sincere tone of voice.

"Yeah! I'm looking forward to that," I said as I walked back over to my friends. They couldn't wait to see which card I'd won, even Andre!


	18. Tournament Stories part 18

Tournament Stories part 18

The final five sets of duels progressed smoothly for a while after my close duel against Christina. She didn't decide to stick around to see the remainder of the duels, though- even with her friend Alex still in the tournament.

But anyway, after our duel was a duel between duelist #5 and duelist #8. If you'll recall, he was the duelist who gave his friend (duelist #20) "bad advice." But in the end, despite eight being his lucky number, duelist 5 won, and I'll be up against him in the top 8. After that was duelist 9 against duelist 11. Duelist 11 was that female zombie duelist who won her first round with the final 32, but couldn't hold it together this time. The victor used warrior cards, mainly.

And then it was Doug versus my rival Jon. I still hate calling him a fiend duelist. But I had a flashback to the time I kicked his butt in the virtual arena, and that cheered me right up. But then I remembered that he said that it was his back-up deck that he was using... a likely excuse... but it did explain the Flash Assailant and Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams he played...

Jon and Doug approached each other, shuffled each other's decks under the eyes of Linda, rose up in their own dueling platforms and began, with Jon going first.

"Here's a reliable start, I'm summoning La Jinn (1800/1000) in attack mode. That's it for now," Jon said, obviously toying with Doug.

Doug drew a card, "No sweat. I'll just summon my Robotic Knight (1600/1800) in attack mode, then equip him with Salamandra! It raises his attack by 700. Attack his freaky fiend, Robotic Knight!" Doug commanded. His knight, just like the last time he performed this combo, inserted the fiery sword into his gatling gun arm and fired thousands of miniature rockets at La Jinn, it easily overpowered him and destroyed him, leaving Jon with 7500 LP- an early lead for Doug.

"This whole thing just started, kid! I'm setting one monster in defense and setting one card on the field," Jon continued making boring plays as Doug's eyes glared with excitement from the card he just drew.

"I activate Tremendous Fire to do some more damage to you!" Doug said as the bright orange rings of flames spread out among the players. Jon's life points shrank to 6500. Doug's went down to 7500. "...Hot enough for ya?" Doug said aloud. "AUUGHHHHH! THAT'S it! Next turn, I'm going all out on you!" The rest of the crowd laughed at Jon's outburst toward Doug's unfunny, cliche, wisecrack. "My Robotic Knight will now attack your face down monster!" Doug said. And once more, the machine card assaulted and destroyed Jon's face down Earthbound Spirit (500/2000) with ignited bullets.

_All Jon's done so far is play simple fiend monsters... could he already be preparing to summon the Dark Necrofear?_ I thought as Jon drew a card and smiled at his present opportunity, "It's my Standby Phase. And, according to the rules printed on the card, I'm allowed to activate my Curse of Fiend magic card! When this is activated, all battle positions of all monsters are changed from defense to attack and vice-versa. So your knight is now in defense mode (DEF: 1800). And my plan has just begun. Now I'm activating the magic card Dragged Down into the Grave. With this, we both get to see each other's hands and pick one card from the other's to go into the graveyard. Then we each draw one card from our decks," Jon stopped talking so that the two duelists could carry out this effect.

As a courtesy for the rest of us, the contents of the both duelists' hands were broadcasted to all of us via the huge scoreboard above everything. Doug and Jon looked up and used that to decide which card the other should get rid of.

In Jon's hand of four was Mask of Brutality, Skull Knight #2, Fairy Box and Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell.

In Doug's hand of four was Darkfire Soldier #1, Card Shuffle, Fire Sorcerer and Ryu-Ran.

"I'm forcing you to discard your Fairy Box," Doug announced as Jon carelessly tossed his trap into the graveyard.

"And you're getting rid of your Darkfire Soldier!" Jon snapped back as Doug winced hearing his favorite card's name. "But don't worry- maybe you'll draw a better card, now, from your pathetic deck!" Jon tried to console him (with obvious sarcasm).

After they each finished drawing a new card, Jon continued his turn, "I'm summoning Skull Knight #2 (1000/1200) in attack mode! Also, I'll be equipping him with Mask of Brutality, which raises his attack and lowers his defense by 1000 giving him 2000 attack points. Now attack his defending robot, my fiend monster!" Jon ordered it. The angry fiend monster seemed to shoot across the field in a shrouding black mist before appearing in front of the machine card. He took a heavy slice at him and destroyed it. Upon returning to his spot of summoning, the fiend fixed his loose green mask and remained stationary peering out of the eye holes with his piercing red eyes.

"Well, THAT wasn't good," Doug stated the obvious as Andre, behind me, slapped his forehead. Doug drew a card and looked at his opponent's only monster for a second or two, then looked back at his hand. A distinct drop in the action took place here as Doug seemed to take forever just to put two cards on the field... "Alright, I'll first activate the field magic card Molten Destruction which gives fire monsters a 500 attack increase and 400 defense decrease. Then I'm setting one monster face down to end my turn."

"How exciting," Jon squinted his eyes slightly and drew his head back in disgust. I'd bet anything that right there Jon was thinking,_I can't believe I've gotta duel THIS guy!_ Jon drew a card and his life points instantly dropped to 5500. "Whoa! What was that?" Doug asked as Andre slapped his forhead again.

"Ultimate power comes at a price. For every standby phase that this equip magic card is on the field, I must pay 1000 life points. But it's no big deal- you'll never see it again." Jon's tone instantly changed to a more scheming one, "I'm sacrificing my Skull Knight to tribute summon the Earl of Demise (2000/700) in attack mode," Jon paused for a second. "Alright, and now my Skull Knight's special effect is activated. If I successfully tribute summon a fiend monster using him, I can special summon another Skull Knight #2 from my deck in face up attack or defense position. Then I shuffle my deck. So now, THIS one is going in attack mode," Jon specially summoned another Skull Knight #2. A small viel of darkness began to cover Jon's side of the field despite the intense brightness of the volcano from Doug's field card.

"Earl of Demise, attack his face down monster!" Jon commanded. With his sword, the gentleman-like fiend whisked forward and attacked the mysterious card revealed to be Fire Sorcerer (1500/1100). "Hah, you've flipped my Fire Sorcerer. Now, after I randomly discard two cards from my hand, you receive 800 points of direct damage," Doug put his hand of three cards into a slot reserved for randomizing. After a second, he removed the three cards again and sent two to his graveyard without looking at them. Upon discarding them, two glowing red orbs sprouted up from his graveyard and whizzed toward the fading Fire Sorcerer. Right before she vanished, she grabbed these two orbs, ignited them and tossed them at Jon, taking his life points down to 4700.

"Well good for you... Skull Knight, attack HIS life points directly!" Jon demanded. With his glowing red sword, the second Skull Knight sliced at Doug's platform, causing 1000 points of damage. "That more than balances out that 800 damage," Jon commented. "but you're_still_ losing!" Doug replied as he drew a card.

"PERfect! I'm summoning my Burning Beast (2000/600) in attack mode. Attack his Skull Knight #2!" Doug's Burning Beast seemed to form a link with the nearby volcano as the fire on its back intensified and launched into the air. A second later, the inferno landed onto the weaker of Jon's two fiend cards and destroyed it. And with that 1000 hit on Jon's life points, the score was 3700-Jon to 6500-Doug. Could Doug actually win against MY toughest enemy?

"Whatever," Jon said as he drew a card. "I'm setting one card face down and another face down in defense mode, your go."

"I've got him scared now!" Doug said to himself. It was apparent that Andre, still behind me, didn't even hear this because he didn't slap his forehead.

Doug drew a card and instantly played it, "I'm activating Reasoning!" Doug announced.

"Risky move," Andre commented as Doug explained its effects, "You get to call a monster card level. Then I keep picking up cards from the top of my deck until I come to a monster. If that monster is of the same level you called, all the cards I picked up go to the graveyard. But if that monster isn't of the same level, it's instantly special summoned face up in attack or defense and the rest of those cards still go to the graveyard- now call a monster level!" Doug seemed fairly confident that this plan of his would work. But it all depended on which level Jon called, "Level..." a detectable pause, "four!"

Nervously, the whole stadium watched on the huge scoreboard as doug took cards... Ground Collapse... Spiritual Energy Settle Machine... then finally, Giant Soldier of Stone (level 3). "Looks like I get to special summon my Soldier of Stone since it is NOT a level four monster," Doug commented as he put his rock card on the field. "And now my Burning Beast attacks your face down monster." With another firestorm, the face down Mask of Darkness was destroyed.

"Ha, great- as you probably know, flipping the Mask of Darkness allows me to take a trap from my graveyard and add it to my hand. So thanks a lot!" Jon happily shifted through his graveyard and retrieved the only trap in there. "You done?" Jon asked and Doug quietly nodded, almost embarrassed to have helped out his opponent.

Jon drew a card and began his turn, "Okay! I think I'll summon The Bistro Butcher (1800/1000) in attack mode. And, uh, that'll be it for now from me," Jon carelessly ended his turn almost unaware of leaving his newest fiend in attack mode.

_He's obviously toying with Doug by leaving it vulnerable like that. And since he didn't set any new cards face down, he must be planning on activating that one face down card this turn because leaving a weaker card in attack mode like that doesn't make sense._ I thought as Doug drew a card and pondered his next move, "Alright then! I'm sacrificing my soldier of stone to summon Gadget Soldier (2300/1600) in attack mode. And now he attacks your Earl of Demise!" Doug declared. So with his mobile rocket launcher, the Gadget Soldier swiftly took aim and fired a set of four missles at Jon's Earl and destroyed it in a bright explosion of fire. "Now Burning Beast attacks your Bistro Butcher," Doug said slightly cautiously. "Okay, now I'll actiavte this," Jon began as I immediately assumed the worst... perhaps a Mirror Force or Spellbinding Circle? But no, "Soul Reversal. It's a quick play magic card that lets me take a flip effect monster and put it on the top of my deck. The life points were well worth it," Jon commented as his life points sped down to 3200.

He drew his Mask of Darkness and looked through his graveyard then said, "I've held this off for long enough. To be honest, I've never held this card in my hand longer tha I needed to, this was the first time I've ever done that- but enough talk! I'm removing the La Jinn, Earthbound Spirit and one of my Skull Knight #2's in my graveyard from play so I can special summon the all powerful Dark Necrofear (2200/2800) in attack mode!" Three black glowing spheres drifted out of his graveyard, converged into one monster zone and spun into the form of the Dark Necrofear. Slowly, the contours of this purely evil creature were scultped and came into view, as dark as they were. Surrounding it was a heavy aura of blackness all but completely concealing it. "Get rid of his Burning Beast!" he commanded his darkest monster. With a gaze from its glowing white eyes, the Necrofear encircled the fiery monster with a white circle slowly closing in on it. Parts of the monster that touched the white circle were instantly vaporized. And as the circle closed in on itself, more and more of the monster vanished until the Burning beast could take no more and disappeared altogether. To end his attack, all the Necrofear did was blink, quite slowly. Doug's life points were now at 6300. "And I'd think twice before attacking him," Jon warned. It was a fair warning, too; the Dark Necrofear's major effect can be quite brutal.

Doug drew a card and grimaced at it. "I'll just set this one card face down and end my turn this time," Doug said. Jon drew a card. "Aha! This couldn't have come a better time! I activate Yami! It gives all spellcasters and fiends a 200 attack and defense increase while decreasing fairies' attack and defense by that amount. This means that my Dark Necrofear gets even darker," Jon stated as the playing field was enveloped by shadows and other dark substances. On this, the Necrofear seemed to thrive and get stronger. Doug made an angry groan. "Attack his Gadget Soldier!" Jon commanded his fiend monster.

Just like before, the Dark Necrofear glared at his enemy with his glowing white eyes. Only this time, the resulting circle had 4 lines going across it all intersecting in the center at which the machine monster was located. Contrary to the color of the circle, pulses of black energy surged through the white lines and into the soldier all the while the circle closed in on the machine card. it was definately something to be seen to believe. It was like something directly from a science fiction movie. After the soldier was awesomely destroyed, Doug's life points were lowered to 5700- still a significant lead over Jon's 3200, but slowly zeroing in.

Anxiously, Doug drew a card. Angrily, he ended his turn with nothing to do.

"Uh-oh! That's not a good sign!" Jon began to taunt Doug while he drew a card. "Okay, now I'm equipping my almighty Necrofear with Sword of Dark Destruction. It increases his attack by 400 while decreasing his defense by 200. So now he's got 2800 attack AND defense points! Attack his face down monster now!" With its new sword firmly in its right hand, the Dark Necrofear raised it above its head and to the left with his arm crossing over his face, then briskly brought it down and pointed it towards the defending monster. From the tip of the sword blasted bolts of black and white energy randomly striking the field in a circular pattern until finally converging upon the hidden Lady Assailant of Flames (1700/1200). "Okay, time for a bit of payback. Before she goes, the lady here wants to deal out some damage. So I'll now remove the top three cards of my deck from play to inflict another 800 points of damage upon you!" With the three cards he removed from play, three of those familiar red orbs made their way to the disappearing pyro monster. She ingited each of them and threw them at Jon, brining his life points down to 2400.

"Cut it OUT now!" Jon was agitated at his further loss of life points. "All I can say is that you had better summon a monster now," Jon warned while Doug drew a card. "It's not exactly a monster, but it will do just fine," Doug when he set one card face down.

"If you say so," Jon said as he drew a card. "I'll set this one card in defense mode-" Jon was interrupted, "I'm activating Physical Double! It makes an exact replica of any monster I choose with a mirage token- the same attack, defense, type, attribute, and level. So I'm choosing your Dark Necrofear to save myself for this turn, at least," Doug was obviously running low on ways out. It seemed like it wouldn't be long until we'd see one of those white circles close in on Doug.

"Alright, fine. I'll have to pass this turn this time," Jon finished his turn, giving Doug some room to breathe. As soon as Jon's turn ended, the mirage token was destroyed.

"Doug's definately gotta draw a playable monster this turn, or he's screwed," Jack stated the obvious thing as Doug drew his next card, rather happy with the result. "YES! What luck! I'm summoning Gren Maju Da Eiza(?) in attack mode!" Numerous confused sounds came from the people in the arena, including from Jon, "Why THAT card?" he asked. Doug smiled a bit and replied, "It's attack and defense becomes 400 points x the number of my cards that are removed from play. So that makes 2000 attack and defense. And then you've got your Yami out. So that's 200 more points for each giving him final stats of 2200 attack and 2200 defense," Doug proudly said. "It doesn't match the 2800 attack of my Necrofear-" Jon stated the obovious as Doug focused on Jon's face down monster. "Attack his defense monster!" Doug commanded. With its huge claws and massively powerful wings, the weird fiend card flew over and slashed a few times at the defending Mystic Tomato (1400/1100). "Ha, and now I'll special summon a dark attribute monster from my deck in face up attack, my third Skull Knight #2 (1200/1400)! You've just dug yourself a particularly deep hole," Jon said rather gravely.

_Holy crap! Doug's strategies all seem to have fallen apart; Jon is making him looking like a newbie at this, even though he's still winning..._ I thought as Jon began his next turn.

"Okay, I'll summon this card I just drew by sacrificing my last Skull Knight. His effect doesn't work because this card isn't a fiend, and he was the final Skull Knight #2 anyway. So- here comes the Patrician of Darkness (2000/1400) in attack mode! Now you're done for! Even if you wanted to attack, your target is up tome! But you won't have that chance. Dark Necrofear, eliminate his ...long-named fiend card..." Obediently, his fiend card again pointed his sword at the bright red fiend and annihilated it with a blaze of white and black lightning. "Now my zombie card will attack you directly!" Jon commanded his patrician. He flew up with his crimson cape and hovered in the air about 15 feet from Doug waving his hands about in a hypnotizing motion. Slowly, a dark orange musk made its way towards Doug and somehow brought his life points down to 3100, nearly evening the score.

Doug drew and said, "Aw crap, talk about BAD luck of the draw!" and Andre slapped his forehead. "I'm setting a monster in defense mode to end my turn.

"Hmm..." Jon looked doubtfully at Doug and drew a card, not even looking at it. "I'm summoning the Mask of Darkness (1100/600) in attack mode. Patrician of Darkness, attack his defense card," and with another dark orange, Doug's final monster was taken out- the Cannon Soldier (1400/1300). "Okay- get ready, it's over!" Jon announced. Mask of Darkness, attack him directly!" Following his master's instructions, he launched little yellow spikes at Doug, bringing his life points down to 2000.

"The final attack- Dark Necrofear, take this guy out!" Jon evilly smiled as everyone watched his monster attack. With another point from his sword, another circle slowly appeared around Doug. Everywhere around him was a thin circle. And quickly dashing across it were four lines all intersecting right where he was standing. A dark aura covered the entire arena to symbolize "this is the end for someone." When the suspense was too much to bear, the black surges began to start moving along the white lines and stopping where Doug was. Each one felt a bit more painful than the last as could be judged from his supressed yells of half irritation and half pain. And all the while, the circle was closing in on him, adding to the horrible feeling of dread we all had for him. When it finally came to that, the circle itself vanished as it came in "contact" with Doug's body. Then all the holograms disappeared and the duel was over.

Doug was awarded his $500 and from Doug's deck Jon took the Physical double card, even though it isn't rare or too powerful. It can only be activated on your opponent's turn.

After everything was finished, Jack, Andre and I talked to him about how close he was and all that other expected stuff. He said, "Well, thanks guys. But if you don't mind, I'm gonna head toward that boat now so I can get some real rest. Good luck to all of you in your duels later today. And... see ya on the boat when this whole thing is over!" So after our goodbyes, Doug walked alone out of the stadium leaving us three alone.

I turned back to look into the stadium and saw Jon cheerily walking back toward the stands..._Soon..._ I said to myself.


	19. Tournament Stories part 19

Tournament Stories part 19

It had been a long morning. But the duels were more than half over after Doug's loss to Jon. And to speed the duels up even faster, Linda called for duelists number 18 and 19 to approach the arena to "get this show off the road." I swear, that's what she said!

Anyway, duelist number 18 was that strange guy dressed in black that Andre was so convinced was a rare hunter. It was amazing how quickly he wiped duelist 19 out.

After that, it was time for duelists 22 and 24 to compete. We all wished Jack luck as he walked, a few steps ahead of us, into the red platform he chose.

Linda ascended in her taller platform, the decks were shuffled, each player had 8000 life points and 5 cards and the duel began with Jack going first.

Briskly, he said, "I'm summoning Harpie's Brother (1800/600) in attack mode, setting two cards face down and ending my turn. Your go."

"Wow, that was quick. Okay, I'm gonna summon White magician Pikeru (1200/0) in attack mode." As soon as he put the card on his side of the field, a bright, happy little ball of light gleefully zipped around the field until landing on the spot corresponding to where he put the card. In a tiny flash, the cute little girl holding her magic scepter appeared and winked at whoever this opponent of Jack's was. I'm glad we never learned his name. "Also, I'm gonna play Ground Collapse, which renders two of your monster zones useless. Then I'm gonna go and activate Kaiser Colosseum. As long as this magic card is on the field, you can't have more monsters on the field than me, as long as I at least have one monster on the field. NOW I'm gonna activate The Dark Door. So now each of us can only attack once per Battle Phase. Finally, I'm gonna set this one card face down and end my turn!"

"Whoa. I must say, I am impressed with this little pipsqueak!" Andre said in a normal tone of voice. "Oh gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, jerk," Jack replied. "What! You can't deny that he has you in a tight spot!" Andre was being bluntly honest. And it was true, really. Unless Jack had a whole hand of De-Spells or a Harpie's Feather Duster somewhere, this guy had Jack very confined. "Don't you have anything in your hand that can help you?" I asked as he drew a card. "Yeah," he smiled deviously. I may only be able to attack once, but as long as the monster is stronger than that puffball he's got, it should be no problem.."

To his opponent, "I'm sacrificing my Harpie's Brother to summon Curse of Dragon (2000/1500) in attack mode!"

"Alot of good it'll do ya! I'm activating the trap card Gravity Bind! With this on the field, ALL monsters of level 4 or higher can't attack, but their positions can be changed- what a waste!" The little pipsqueak giggled with immature glee.

"What a LOSER!" Jack said only loud enough for us to hear.

"My turn!" The little pipsqueak drew a card. "It's my standby phase now. So, by my spellcaster's effect, my life points go up by 400 for every monster I've got. So now my life points are 8400. And NOW I summon the Trojan Horse (1600/1200) in attack mode! That's it now."

Jack drew a card and spoke to us while still looking back and forth between his hand and opponent, "I can't attack, even if I could it can only happen once. I can never have more monsters than him which is never gonna happen, anyway, because of his Ground Collapse card!" he examined his problems. "I TOLD you he had you in a tight spot!" Andre echoed what he had indeed said not too long ago. But this time, Jack agreed.

He grabbed two cards from his hand and said, "I'm setting one card in defense mode and activating Dian Keto the Cure Master. My life points go up to 9000. Your move."

_This duels' gonna be so BORING if someone doesn't attack soon!_ I thought as the little pipsqueak drew his next card.

"It's my standby phase again. So this time my life points go up by 800 to 9200. Next up, I'm sacrificing my Trojan Horse to summon Metal Armored Bug (2800/1500) in attack mode!"

"Hold on! A monster that strong needs more than one tribute; you just cheated!" Jack accused the pipsqueak.

"How right you are- about the tributing part. It's true that a level 8 monster such as my insect here needs two monsters in order to get it onto the field. But When my Trojan Horse is used to tribute summon a monster of earth, which my bug is, it can be treated like TWO monsters. So even though I used one monster, that monster's effect let me summon my bug with ease. But relax: my Gravity Bind is still out there. Then again, my magician isn't even affected by it, so attack his face down monster!" The happy magician's eyes glared as meanly as they could at the hidden monster and aimed her scepter at it. Gracefully, a transparent rainbow flowed out of it and rushed over Jack's revealed Magician of Faith (300/400). "Heh, thanks. Now I'll just get my spell card back."

Jack began his turn and drew a card, very happy with the result. "Here we go- I'm first activating Dian Keto again to get my life points up to an even 10000. Next, I'm summoning Familiar Knight (1200/1400) in attack mode. And now, since it's only level 3, I'm attacking your white magician with him!" Heroically, the knight sped forward and quickly attacked his spellcaster, she tried putting up a fight by hitting him with her scepter. Both attacks connected and both were destroyed because of the equal attack points. "And my warrior has a special effect. When he's destroyed as a result of a battle, we both can special summon a level 4 monster from our hand to the field," Jack was obviously happy about this. "I'm special summoning my Rare Metal Dragon (2400/1200) in attack mode!"

"And I'm summoning Zolga in attack mode," the little pipsqueak said. "My turn, and you better hope I don't draw a high-level monster!" He drew a card and looked at it approvingly, "I rely so much on my Gravity Bind, so I stock up my deck with lots of low level monsters,"_So you're a staller, in other words._ I thought to myself as he continued, "I'm summoning Karate Man (1000/1000) in attack mode. Now I'm activating his special effect. I'm doubling his attack and attacking your Curse of Dragon. This will destroy them both." The Karate Man unleashed a barrage of lightning quick kicks while the dragon attacked with a bright metallic red fireball at point blank range. Both monsters hit the floor and were destroyed. "Your move."

Jack drew a card and set it down in the magic/trap zone.

"Perfect, I now have you right where I want you." The little weirdo drew a card and activated it. "I activate Remove Trap on my own Gravity Bind to enable us all to attack with our monsters again. Well, more exactly, monster because Dark Door's still out. So attack his dragon, my insect!" The huge bug lowered its head, tightened its legs and blindly sped directly for the Rare Metal Dragon. The dragon was tackled and destroyed resulting in 400 life points loss for Jack. "I activate Attack and Receive. When I take damage of any kind, I can activate this and inflict 700 points of damage on YOU!" Both scores lowered at the same time leaving Jack's at 9600 and the pipsqueak's at 8500. "Oh, you're such a meanie!" the little pipsqueak complained as Jack drew his next card.

"I'm activating Stray Lambs. Now, TWO sheep tokens are summoned to the field in defense mode. It's your go now."

Randomly from the sparse number of people in the stands was heard, "COME ON! ONE OF YOU**LOSE** ALREADY!"

Everybody laughed, especially Jack and the little pipsqueak. The truth was, one of them WAS going to lose this. And right now, it looked like Jack.

"A bunch of sheep is the best you can do?" Pipsqueak commented while he drew a card. "Well, I'll just hold onto this card and attack one of your stupid mammals with my bug."

One sheep token remained, which was enough for Jack. He set a card face down and used his last sheep token to summon his King of Yamimakai (2000/1530) in attack mode. Then he destroyed Pipsqueak's Zolga, which brought his life points down another 300.

Pipsqueak drew a card and set it face down. Then he set the card he drew last turn in defense mode. Finally, he attacked Jack's king with his gigantic bug. "It's not gonna be so easy to get rid of my life points," Jack activated the card Numinous Healer. "It increases my life points by 1000 after I take that 800 damage. So my life points actually go UP 200 points because of your attack!" Jack was pleased with his additional lead, despite his barren field. "Very well, your turn," the little pipsqueak said.

Jack drew his next card and was at first heavily disappointed. But after a few seconds of looking at his opponent's huge bug and then at his two face down cards, he had an idea. And it proved to be a good one. "I'm summoning Electric Snake (800/900) in attack mode!" Many confused gasps resonated from the stands as the little pipsqueak gawked at Jack's seemingly foolish move. "It's your turn now." Jack calmly said. His plan obviously relied on one or both of those face down cards he had- he couldn't have made it more obvious by leaving SUCH a weak monster in attack mode. In fact, it was so obvious that the little pipsqueak began to laugh.

"Aha ha ha ha ha HA! You must think I'm some sort of idiot! It's obvious that you're going to activate one of those face-down cards if I attack that minuscule card of yours. You couldn't have made it any more obvious if you had shown me those face down cards before you set them down!"

"But that's just it!" Jack said back, "YOU have noidea if these cards are even traps or quick plays at all. They could be just plain old magic cards there to throw you off. Or maybe theyARE trap cards, but are completely useless in this situation! And further more, if they**were** to end up being trap cards, you can't begin to figure out what effects either of them would have. Perhaps one of them is a Mirror Force, resulting in the loss of both your monsters AND your Kaiser Colosseum. Maybe the other is a Waboku, which would render your attack useless, allowing me to tribute my snake next turn. You just can't take that chance... Then again, it's an opportunity to deal 2000 points of damage to me! How many times has a chance like this been presented to you?" Jack was definitely messing with the little pipsqueak's mind. Any of those possibilities Jack mentioned could have been true. Maybe he WAS just bluffing. And if the pipsqueak were to attack, Jack would lose 2000 life points. "So I'm gonna end my turn. You do whatever you want!" Jack left it all up to the pipsqueak.

He drew a card and paused for a short second, "Okay, it's my standby phase, and I'm activating my face down non Aggression Area. By discarding my only card in my hand, I prevent you from normal summoning, setting and special summoning next turn- so it gives me time to think. I end my turn." As soon as that card was discarded, a purplish pink force field appeared around Jack's monster zone almost like the one printed on the card itself. It looked kinda cool how it glowed and pulsed.

"What a wuss!" Andre said to me as Jack drew his next card.

"That's okay. I'll just bide my time and set yet another card face down- your move."

Pipsqueak was still a bit confused on what to do. I suppose it would normally be an easy decision to make. But against someone you've never met before, it's hard to call. Against a friend of whose deck you are somewhat familiar with, it's easier to take risks. If I were in Pipsqueak's spot, I would definitely NOT attack no matter what the tempt was.

So Pipsqueak drew a card. "Was the extra turn worth it?" Jack asked. Upon looking at the card he just drew, Pipsqueak admitted, "Yes- come to think of it. I'm setting this card face down and NOT attacking."

"Okay," Jack drew a card. "Heh, time for more mystery. I'm sacrificing my Electric Snake to set one monster face down in defense mode. And now it's your turn again."

A sigh of relief came from Pipsqueak. No longer did he have to deal with the pressure of the previous dilemma. Though you could tell by the expression on his face whether or not he thought the choice he made was the correct one. He drew a card, "I'm summoning Nin-Ken Dog (1800/1000) in attack mode-" He was interrupted by Jack, "And I'm activating Trap Hole to send that card to the graveyard... you may continue."

"And now- I AM attacking your face down monster!" Pipsqueak announced.

Anxiously, everyone watched to see if Jack would let his only monster be destroyed, if he would activate any of his cards or what. Our wonderings were answered when the bug made full contact with Jack's face down Nobleman-Eater Bug (900/1200), "Alright! You fell for myreal trap! The Nobleman-Eater Bug is kind of like it's little brother, only HE gets to destroy TWO monsters! Say goodbye to your big bug!" Jack proudly told Pipsqueak the trouble he was in. Before the insect vanished, he launched both of his claws towards Pipsqueak's monsters, destroying them. But, unfortunately, the face down monster Pipsqueak had was the Skull-Mark Ladybug which increased his life points by 1000. The good part was, though, that Kaiser Colosseum, since Pipsqueak didn't have one monster on his field, was now destroyed. But best of all, it was Jack's turn. If he were to draw a monster with a high enough attack, Jack could possibly get his lead back.

He drew a card. "I'm summoning Dancing Fairy (1700/1000) in attack mode. Attack his life points directly!" And for the first time this whole duel, one's life points went down more than 500 with the trio of pixies zapping Pipsqueak down to 8500.

He drew a card and got quite angry, "Gruh, I can't even do anything with this card. I've got to pass."

Jack drew a card and said, "You're lucky you've still got The Dark Door out!" He summoned Mysterious Puppeteer (1000/1500) in attack mode and attacked Pipsqueak directly, bringing his life points down to 6800, and ended his turn.

I then turned to Andre and said, "Something confuses me- how come the duels came so close earlier in the tournament, but in these final 5, life points go up high and stay up high?" He agreed and said, "Yeah- especially with Jack... I dunno. Maybe these duelists are SO good that they would rather increase their life before going all out...?" I answered saying, "I guess that sounds right," and the duel went on.

Pipsqueak drew a card praying for a monster. He slowly looked at the card and said, "Aw man, come on! ...Oh well, it's better than nothing... I summon Dark Zebra (1800/400) in attack mode."

"Good, then my life points go up by 500 to 10300 due to my puppeteer's effect." Jack said happily.

"But now my Dark Zebra's attacking your warrior card!" The zebra charged rather quickly toward his mysterious puppetmaster and skewered it with its horn and destroyed it taking Jack's life points down to 9100. "I've just taken damage to my life points. So I'm activating another Attack and Receive trap card! In addition to the 700 you normally take, you are damaged an extra 300 because of one Attack and Receive already in the graveyard!"

Angered, Pipsqueak could only listen and watch as his life points went down by another 1000 points.

"My move!" Pipsqueak snatched the top card off his deck. Then it was his standby phase and his zebra automatically switched to defense mode as it says on the card's effect. After looking at the card he just drew, the little pipsqueak set the other card in his hand face down and graciously ended his turn.

Jack drew a card and said, "Hmm! That's lucky!" And then to Pipsqueak, "And now I summon Element Dragon (1500/1200) in attack mode. And he gets a special power, now, thanks to my fairy card, a wind attribute, on the field: If he destroys a monster of yours as a result of battle, I'm able to have him attack again. So, Element Dragon! Attack his defending Dark Zebra!"

"Not so fast. I'm activating the trap A Hero Emerges. Now you must randomly select one card from my hand. If it's a monster, I special summon it to the field. If it isn't it goes to the graveyard," Pipsqueak smiled as he explained his card.

"But you've only GOT one card in your hand," Jack complained.

"DUH! Why do you think I activated that trap?" Pipsqueak said without waiting for jack to "choose" the card, "I special summon Flame Champion (1900/1300) in attack mode."

"Hey, cool- a fire attribute monster! That activates another one of my Element Dragon's effects. When there is a fire monster on the field, my monster's attack goes up by 500 points!" Jack said happily as his dragon's attack went up to a respectable 2000. "Looks like your plan backfired! Element Dragon, attack his zebra!" And with a mighty blast of fire from his throat, the dragon destroyed the zebra. "Now I can attack again since he just destroyed a monster. Attack his Flame Champion!"

"Yes! FINALLY something goesmy way! I activate the classic, yet effective, trap card Reverse Trap! All increases and decreases to attack and defense points are reversed for this turn. So instead of your dragon gaining those 500 attack points, it now loses those 500 points from his original amount!" Pipsqueak announced as Jack looked a bit crestfallen as the Flame Champion struck back and destroyed the dragon, resulting in a 900 life point loss for him.

"Now it's my turn again," Pipsqueak smiled. "I set one monster card and attack your fairies with my Flame Champion. The brave soldier bounded toward the three panicking fairies and knocked them all out with his fiery shield. Jack's life points reached an even 8000, and the bar above his name reached the normal green again. Pipsqueak's bar was in the yellow with 5800 life points.

"Your field is empty except for that one face down magic/trap you haven't activated yet. And you've got no cards in your hand. So pray that the next card you draw is a good monster!" Pipsqueak stated the obvious as Jack glanced down at something on the grass near us for some reason. Andre and I looked around to try and spot what he was looking at, but to no avail. And then I wondered what the point was of looking at something behind you and on the ground when you were fighting in a duel... Jack drew a card and set it defense mode.

"My go! Pipsqueak took his top card and looked at his two monsters. I thought for sure he was going to sacrifice them for a high-level, but I guess not, though, "And now Flame Champion attacks whatever card you have face down." The Flame Champion summoned a fireball in his arm and threw it like a discus, hitting its defending target, the Nightmare Penguin (900/1800).

"My penguin has a special effect. I can return one card on your side of the field to your hand. So I choose Flame Champion." Jack initiated his latest strategy in pure desperation then drew a card when his turn began and smiled at it.

"Alright! I'm summoning my Enraged Battle Ox (1700/1000). It's got a special effect, too! As long as he's face up on the field, beasts, beast-warriors and winged-beasts are bestowed a special power. If they attack one of your defense monsters with a defense lower than my monster's attack, the difference is subtracted from your life points! So attack his defense monster!" Obediently, the beast-warrior slashed Pipsqueak's defending Mother Grizzly (1400/1000) in two, resulting in his life points going down to 5100.

"Ah, but this monster's got an effect as well! When she's destroyed in battle, I can special summon a water monster with 1500 attack points or fewer from my deck into attack mode. So here comes Piranha Army (800/200). Don't worry about its weakness; it won't be around for long. So now it's my turn, is it?" Jack affirmatively nodded.

"Perfecto!" he said while he drew his next card. "I sacrifice my Piranha Army to welcome back my Flame Champion (1900/1300) in attack mode! Incinerate his Battle Ox!" And with a slash of his sword of fire, the beast-warrior was gone and Jack's life points went down to 7800.

Anxiously, Jack drew his next card among the laughter and taunts of his opponent. But, to his relief, it was a VERY usable card, "I now remove two light attribute monsters in my graveyard (Electric Snake and Element Dragon) to special summon my Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800) in attack mode! Reduce his fire card to ashes!" With deceptively kind eyes, this transparent fairy summoned a ball of celestial blue energy to her palms and unleashed a very concentrated and controlled attack at Pipsqueak's Flame Champion, quickly destroying it and leaving his life points at 5000. "That was a very lucky draw," Pipsqueak said disappointedly as he drew his next card.

"Okay, I'll set a monster and end my turn."

"I'll set one too and attack your defending monster with my fairy card!" The blue light was concentrated towards the face down card, but wasn't destroyed. It turned out to be the Skull Dog Marron (1350/2000). It's defense points equaled the fairy's attack, which means nothing was destroyed and no life points were lost; Pipsqueak managed to save himself.

"Hah, I'm so lucky!" Pipsqueak giggled. "And it's my turn now!"

"Aw, come ON! You are such a boring_STALLER!_ " Andre said. And he was right- to be quite honest, I found myself bored at more than one point in this duel. It felt like the scores were gonna stay like this for the whole duel. Pipsqueak continued his turn, "And now I'm setting another monster in defense- your move again."

Jack looked pretty angrily at this guy who hasn't attacked since his Enraged battle Ox was on the field. He was purposely taking his time- and it was annoying Jack, as well as us, as well as more than half of the spectators. Even Linda, way up there in her own tower protected by her umbrella, put her chin on her hand and rested her elbow on a bar as the duel trudged on.

"Okay, this will at least make things interesting. I'm summoning Mushroom man #2 (1250/800) in attack mode! He decreases the life points of his current controller by 300 during that player's standby phase. And control of him can switch by paying 500 life points at one's end phase- which is what I'm doing now."

So Jack's life points went down to 7300 as that fungal life form seemed to teleport from Jack's field to Pipsqueak's. But instead of facing Jack, the mushroom man's new enemy, like all of the monsters Pipsqueak controlled did, the Mushroom Man still was facing Pipsqueak with that evil glare in its red eyes. Right after Pipsqueak drew his next card, the warrior card pumped his roots full of something and forced it into the ground. As a result, thin yellow beams of light protruded from the ground and stabbed Pipsqueak's platform. This lowered his life points to 4700.

"It doesn't matter," Pipsqueak began. "Now that I have one extra monster, I can summon this guy one turn earlier than I thought! So, I sacrifice my Skull Dog Marron and your Mushroom Man #2 to summon Hyozanryu (2100/2800) in attack mode!" As soon as he slapped that card down onto the field, an extremely bright diamond appeared on the field not shaped like anything. But the two monsters' spirits who he sacrificed absorbed into the diamond and caused two cracks to form in it. These little cracks spread and split apart the diamond as the erratic lines of the cracks began to form the contour of a creature. Chunks of the diamond began to chip off as big as a person and before we knew it, the diamond gleamed with an intense bright light when the chiseling was done revealing this beautifully luminous dragon. "Now, attack his face down monster!" Pipsqueak commanded.

"My Soul of Purity and Light's effect activates! All of your monsters lose 300 attack points during your battle phase!" Jack announced. Pipsqueak panicked as his dragon's attack went down to 1800. The dragon attacked with a blast from its breath almost as bright as himself. The attack connected but destroyed nothing, but did reveal the hidden Des Feral Imp (1600/1800) which means that no life points were lost either. "My reptile here has a flip effect. I get to pick a card from my graveyard, add it to my deck, then shuffle it. Is your turn done now?" Jack asked. Pipsqueak nodded. "Okay!" Jack began.

AUTHOR'S NOTE": I am not 100 sure of the effect of the Soul of Purity and Light monster card. Even though it clearly says, "As long as this card is face up on the field, decrease the ATK of all monsters on your opponent's side of the field by 300 points during his/her Battle Phase," I'm not sure if the attack points of the opposing monster(s) restore themselves to their value before the decrease, or if they remain that low and continue to go down to zero- before which time anyone would have switched their monster into defense... So I'm going to interpret these rules so that the decrease is permanent because: 1. It wouldn't make sense for the effect of a monster needing to be specially summoned like this to be neutralized after every turn. 2. It said on the card "As long as this card is face up on the field." If you disagree, I apologize, but this duel must end SOMEtime!

"Now I can do some real damage!" Jack said after drawing his next card. "I'm activating the magic card De-Spell to FINALLY get rid of that annoying Dark Door card! So I'm switching my Des Feral Imp into attack mode and attacking your face down monster." The reptile slithered forward and slashed at Pipsqueak's face down Pixie Knight (1300/200). "NOW you get to pick a magic card from my graveyard for me to put on the top of my deck!" Pipsqueak announced. "You have two choices: Kaiser Colosseum or the Dark Door you just destroyed!" "I guess it'll be the Colosseum, then," Jack said. "But I'm not done attacking!" Jack regained his initiative, "Soul of Purity and Light attacks your now weakened Hyozanryu!" Once again, the intense blue beam destroyed his dragon and reduced his life points by 200 to 4500.

"Fine- but now it's my turn," Pipsqueak said. "I hope that Kaiser Colosseum you drew will help you out!" Jack smirked as Pipsqueak realized the tight spot he was in. Jack continued, "Then again, I have no idea what that OTHER card in your hand is!" Jack continued to antagonize as Pipsqueak took his turn, "I set one card face down in defense and end my turn."

Jack drew his next card. "I'm setting this magic/trap card face down and attacking your card with my Des Feral Imp." The reptile again slashed violently and destroyed the face down Mystic Lamp (400/300). "And now my fairy card attacks your life points!" That same concentrated blue beam of light was now aimed higher right at Pipsqueak. It made full contact and brought his life points down to 2500. "It's nearly over for you. You don't even have a monster to tribute summon with. There's no way your stall deck has anything that will help you, judging by the cards you've played up to this point... care to give up?" Jack was actually being a real bully to this guy! I just can't really convey that by way of written words.

"I'm not giving up." Pipsqueak insisted._ How predictable... then again, I don't think ANYone would simply give up when they haven't completely lost it yet._I thought as Pipsqueak anxiously drew his next card. "I don't want you summoning a monster next turn, so I'm first setting this monster in defense, then activating my Kaiser Colosseum again. It's your turn," Pipsqueak said with a bit of recovered resilience.

Jack drew a card and didn't even think about his move. Holding onto the card he just drew, he said, "And now Des Feral Imp attacks your face down monster."

"Perfect, that'd be MY Nightmare Penguin (900/1800). It's defense is higher than your monster's attack; you lose 200 life points. AND his effect now activates- you should know what it is, you've played this very card earlier in this duel. So I return Soul of Purity and Light to your hand!"

"And here we were thinking that this duel was in the bag!" Andre sarcastically said aloud- purposely to get on Jack's nerves. "Jerk," he smiled as he ended his turn.

Pipsqueak drew his card, relieved that he had saved himself for a bit longer. "Okay! And now I'll be settin this card face down! It's your move, buddy."

Jack drew his next card and looked at the field. Smiling, he played his card, "This card is Change of Heart! I'm sure you know what it does..." "Oh crap! My face down card is useless now! And I'm wide open for attacks!" Pipsqueak stated the (very) obvious.

"Both monsters attack your life points directly. That's exactly 2500 damage, bringing your life points to zero- I win the duel!" Jack declared.

"FINALLY!" Linda yelled as her platform slowly sank into the ground. She did a few stretches to loosen herself up after standing, bored, above all the "action." Andre and I followed Jack around to the center side of the arena closest to the exit that Pipsqueak would soon be exiting.

"Okay, boys- let's make this quick. Duelist #22, select one card from your opponents deck to make your own," Linda commanded as Pipsqueak handed over his deck. But Jack stopped him and said, "I already know which one: your Hyozanryu, please." Reluctantly, but with no choice, Pipsqueak handed the card over to Jack. "And for you, duelist #24... $500 awarded to you for making it all the way to the top 16 in the Gree Island/Peninsula Tournament!" She happily presented Pipsqueak with his cash, sealed in an envelope with the letters printed on it: G I/P T.

"Ha ha, that spells gypped!" Jack had already put his deck away as Pipsqueak walked off.

"Why is it 'Island/Peninsula'?" Andre asked.

"Well, it can get pretty wet here around the rainy season otherwise known as summer... So there IS a land mass connecting us to the mainland, but for half the year you can't see it."

"Interesting," I commented as Andre was obviously not interested anymore in the answer to the very question he had asked.

In fact, Andre and Jack were already walking back to our seats... how rude can you be? I was about to follow them. But Linda began speaking to me, "Your host expects great things from you later today. In fact, he told me that he particularly wants to duel you! Could it have anything to do with that rare card of yours?" She asked that more as a rhetorical question because she continued speaking as soon as she asked it, "One never knows. But in any case, judging by your past performances in this tournament, you should advance rather quickly to the "final duel," don't you think?" She looked over my left shoulder, somehow, (remember, this lady is very short...) and said, "Well, I'd better not keep you from your friends. Go on and win this tournament, eh? Hold onto that card of yours!" She advised, almost in a warning tone. What was her problem? I'm here to duel, not get caught in the middle of a card-snatching free for all! I flashed back to earlier this morning (chapter 13) when she first talked to me about my Black Skull Dragon. Perhaps she was just watching out for me?

Well anyway, pretty soon, Andre would be up against Alex. And I needed to get back to my seat; all this standing up during that boring duel was exhausting.


	20. Tournament Stories part 20

Chapter 20

"I think this duel is about over," Andre said to me as I looked up at the action.

The other kid had an attacking Armored Zombie (1500/0) and a Despair From the Dark (2800/3000) in attack mode, evilly grinning at the kid's to whom we were closest defending Tyhone #2 (1700/1900).

"Eliminate his puny dragon card!" the zombie duelist ordered his more powerful card. And in a blur of gas and claws, the dragon was torn apart. "Now deplete the remainder of his life points!" he commanded his Armored Zombie. With a poorly aimed slash from his sword, the duel between duelists #25 and #28 was over with #25 as the victor.

After the prizes were awarded, Linda announced to us all, "The duel between duelists #29 and 32 will now begin. Please approach the arena!"

"Good luck, Andre!" I said without saying much else.

"...Aren't... you coming too?" he asked trying to sound like he didn't care.

Surprised, I looked at him and said, "Well hey- you don't need US, right? Whatever happened to the 'I can win duels without your encouraging words' attitude?" I finally brought the truth directly in front of Andre. He took a bit of offense to this, as could be seen by the way he was gradually backing away. But then he noticed Jack crawling around on the floor of the stairs behind me and I continued, "Oh right, but Jack lost one of his rare cards, and I'm helping him find it; we'll be there in a few minutes!" He laughed a laugh of relief as he turned around and calmly marched down the stairs

"So what card, exactly, did you lose?" I asked Jack as I watched the two opponents shuffle each others decks.

"Aha! Here it is. Never mind, I found it-" he was happy as he showed me his found Dimensionhole.

"Hey! That's the card you played against Alex and Christina," I commented as I looked away and noticed Andre's next opponent being Alex. Both duelists were headed to their platforms. I ran ahead of Jack so I could catch the first turn.

"...To start off, I'll put one card in defense mode and two other cards face down- your move!" Alex began the duel.

Andre drew a card and couldn't help but smile, "Alright! If these are the kinds of cards I'll be drawing throughout this duel, you're already done for! First off, I'm activating Harpie's Feather Duster!" Andre slapped the powerful, not to mention rare, magic card on the field. We all watched in amazement as a huge whirlwhind whisked away the virtual duplicates of Alex's face down cards... "Change of Heart and Salamandra? WHY would you put_those_ face down?" Andre almost yelled as he asked. "But whatever," Andre continued his turn, "I'm setting a face down card of my own and summoning Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode to get rid of your defense monster!" The dark spellcaster attacked the face down card and destroyed it with deadly accuracy. With his lightning rod-type weapon.

"That was my Fire Sorcerer (1000/1500). And she's got quite the effect. At the cost of two cards in my hand randomly removed from play, I inflict 800 points of direct damage to you. THAT'S why I put those magic cards face down- I didn't want to risk losing either of them," Alex explained as he scrambled his hand's cards and blindly sent two of them out of play. Then two fireballs spouted from two corners of Alex's field and crashed right into Andre, bringing his life points down to 7200. "You can't win this duel by card effects alone," Andre stated the obvious as Alex drew his next card.

"Okay, I'm setting one card face down and another card in defense."

"My move," Andre drew a card. "I summon Gagagigo (1850/1000) in attack mode.

"Ah- now'd be a pretty good time to activate the trap I have set, Just Desserts! For every monster you've got on the field, you lose 500 life points- so that means that you lose 1000. The green bar above Andre on that huge scoreboard shrank down to right before the 6000 LP mark. Andre, although having an advantage at this point, was losing.

"Fine, I'll soon return the favor- Lemme just get through this turn. Skilled Dark Magician attacks your defense monster." Andre said a bit agitated by Alex's almost underhanded tactics. "Okay, that was my Masked Dragon (1400/1100). And when he's sent to the graveyard by a battle, I can special summon a dragon with 1500 attack points or fewer from my deck, then I shuffle it." After a few seconds of taking a card from his deck, setting it in defense and shuffling his deck, it was back to Andre. "And now Gagagigo attacks your new face down monster."

"That's my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave (1300/2000). Gagagigo's attack is lower than 2000, so you lose 150 life points, ha ha ha! I'm doing pretty good!" Alex happily smiled as Andre's life points went down to 6050. "And now it's MY turn!"

Alex drew a card, "I tribute my dragon to summon Twin-Headed Fire Dragon (2200/1700) in attack mode. Now he attacks your Gagagigo!"

"I don't think so! Now I'm activating Magic Cylinder! It negates this attack and sends it right back at you- taking away a huge portion of your life points!" Andre announced, bringing relief to us, his fans.

"Ah crap! And I was doing so well a few seconds ago!" Alex complained as his pyro card launched his molten attack. The magic cylinder appeared in front of Andre's reptile, saving it, and used its tube shape to redirect the fireball back at Alex and his life points. The infernal blast made a loud holographic boom and sunk his life points from a perfect 8000 to 5800.

"All I did was even out the score," Andre said as he drew his next card bringing his hand up to four cards, "NOW it's time to distinguish a leader in this duel!" Andre made it quite clear that Alex's Twin-Headed Fire Dragon was going to be destroyed. "I now sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician..." he paused as he removed that card from the field. A dark purple orb randomly fluttered about Andre's side of the field until he put down the card that would take its place, "...to summon Great Maju Garzett(/0)! He has a super special ability. His attack points are determined by the monster I sacrificed to get him on the field. In this case, I take my Skilled Dark Magician's attack and multiply it by 2 to get 3800 points!" Instantly, the dark purple orb sped and meshed into the evil fiend conjured up by who knows what. Right after the dark purple sphere combined with Great Maju Garzett, it was like he was awakened from some type of eternal slumber- his arms were somehow filled strength. He grew 7 and a half feet tall and a very visible aura of dark blue was around this guy- definitely conveying the word "lethal."

"Attack his puny dragon!" Andre commanded. With no choice, his fiend stood still with his arms slightly bent. But slowly, his hands began to spark with a navy blue energy. Smoothly, he lifted up his hands, not moving a finger, pointing them in the direction of the deformed dragon. And, not even doing anything, a huge collection of power gathered all about his arms, from the shoulder to the fingertips. Then a breathtaking display of deadly dark blue accuracy blasted from each of his arms and completely annihilated Alex's pyro card, bring his life points down a considerable amount to 4200. "And Gagagigo gets his turn now- attack his life points!" Heroically, this reptile card bolted up to Alex, jumped up and jabbed him with his spikes, bringing his life points even further down to 2350. "Now- could you remind me who's losing this duel?" Andre was apparently happy with this sudden turn of events: He had almost 3 times the life points of Alex, Alex could only draw one card on his next turn which means that if it wasn't a monster, he'd definitely be screwed. So everyone was completely silent as Alex drew his next card, despite the pandemonium that had just occurred.

Andre interrupted the silence before Alex drew his card, "It's a shame that you had that Change of Heart destroyed so early in the game, eh?" Alex glared at him, but then agreed, "Yeah, I suppose it was dumb to take such a huge risk- it sure would be useful about now..." Alex stopped talking and drew his card...

It seemed to take him forever to get that card into his hand. And while he slowly, needlessly dramatically took his time, I was thinking- suddenly reminded is more like it- that after this duel, I would be up against my next opponent. I remember that my future, duelist #5 beat that duelist #8 who gave his friend "bad advice." And then it was funny that #8, with 8 as his lucky number, lost.

Suddenly, I was brought back to the current duel where I saw Andre looking dead ahead as his platform lowered. He was wearing an almost detectable smile. "Oh, it's over?" I asked. "What'd you attack with?"

"Nothing, he surrendered when he was so close to actually drawing a card," Andre responded. "But he had 2350 life points left! Surely he could have at least defended..." I replied.

"Yeah- but what a wimp... But at least now I get to take one of his cards, which will make this whole duel worthwhile," he sounded pretty annoyed with "easy-to-beat" duelists. But it's my opinion that he relies on his Great Maju Garzett way too often. Come to think of it, he won his last duel against Weirdo with Great Maju Garzett as well. But all his opponent would need to do is activate a Trap Hole or something like that, and that monster is gone. One shouldn't put too much faith in one card and only one card- diversify.

So Andre took Alex's Shift trap card. It was a good choice, in my opinion.

And before I was aware of it, Linda was calling me and duelist #5 to the arena. I walked up to Linda and waited for my next opponent to make his way down the steps. As this was happening, I took the time to sift through my deck and make absolutely SURE that every extraneous card in my deck had been taken out; this late in the tournament, you don't want to make too many mistakes. I counted my cards... exactly 52! This was good in more ways than one... It's not too small so that I won't run out of cards so quickly and not too big that I would never draw the cards I want. Also, 52 is perfectly divisible by 13 which is my favorite number. So it all works out fine. Also, I took out/ replaced quite a huge number of cards since my last duel. You may be surprised to know that some of the cards I took out include my Cyber Jar, Berserk Gorilla and one of my Summoned Skulls: too many high level monsters in one's deck can cause problems. Okay, I got done thinking... was he here yet? No? Very well- back to my thoughts...

I thought about all this crap regarding my Black Skull Dragon. Even though it was no longer in my deck (fusion monsters are extremely hard to summon in the fact that at least three cards are needed...), I had it protected in a sleeve in that pack that I received earlier back from J and S... those two sister rare hunter duelists.

"Here comes your next victim," Jack said. I looked back at him and said, "You've got too much faith in me, I think!" Then Andre said, totally ignoring both of us, "He's a rare hunter!" in a surprised tone. I turned my head and became just as surprised as he was; this "rare hunter" was in a dark orange t-shirt, dark blue denim jeans and wearing some kind of ominous bracelet on his left wrist. This was the most un-threatening rare hunter I had ever seen. But it could just as easily be some other guy with a thing for dark colors that aren't black. How the heck is Andre able to pick out these rare hunters out of a crowd?

Anyway, Linda explained to us both the same old routine. But this time, she introduced something new, "Since we are now at the top eight, both of you are entitled to one rare card as part of your prize for making it this far. When one of you lose, you WILL be able to keep the card you get in addition to the $500 already entitled to you. But back to the cards..." She reached into her pockets and took out 8 packs each holding one card. "I have here 8 packs. Each of these packs holds exactly one rare card. The rarity can range anywhere from simply rare (with only silver lettering) to the rarity with gold lettering and a holographic background (I don't know the actual NAMES of the different types of rarities...). And the card can come from any booster pack from Legend of Blue Eyes all the way up to the current newest one... So, duelist #5, you pick first."

He looked at the eight silver foil-wrapped cards and took the furthest one to the left. I chose the one second from the right. The opened pack revealed the Mad Dog of Darkness (1900/1400) from the Invasion of Chaos booster pack, a level four monster with good stats. And it's a normal monster, too- so trap cards such as Skill Drain have no effect on it. My opponent, who actually introduced himself as Larry, opened his pack, looked carelessly at the card but didn't put it in his deck._Larry? What kind of rare hunter name IS that?_ I thought to myself as Andre kept himself convinced that this guy was out to get every rare card in existence.

But anyway, we shuffled each others' decks, Linda tiredly rose up on her own little platform for the 25th time during these final five sets, Larry and I each ascended in our platforms and the duel started. He said the same thing that J said to Andre, "I always let the hunted go first." So I did.

FINALLY I was dueling again. It got kind of boring watching others duel.

My first hand wasn't so bad: Black Pendant, Sangan, Big Eye, Kisetai, Spear Cretin and Summoned Skull. This made a fiend-duelist like me extremely happy to see a hand of almost all fiend monsters. I set my Sangan (1000/600) and ended my turn.

Larry drew his sixth card and smiled, "I'm summoning Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000) in attack mode! And next I'm equipping him with Fairy Meteor Crush! This super special equip doesn't increase or decrease his attack or anything like that. Instead, when he attacks a defense position monster with a defense lower than his attacks, the difference between the two is subtracted from your life points! So, Berserk Gorilla, attack his face down monster!"

A mighty stream of fire burst out of his throat and vaporized my Sangan. And since his defense was only 600, I lost 1400 life points- that's a LOT to lose from only the first attack. So the score was 8000 to 6600 and I already had to rethink my strategy. Luckily, my Sangan's special effect was now kicked in. I could take a monster with 1500 attack points or fewer and add it to my hand, then my deck's shuffled.

So then it was my turn. I had taken out Soul Tiger into my hand from my Sangan's effect and then drew Gagagigo from my deck. Then I had a pretty cool idea upon looking closer at my hand. There was a secondary effect my Kisetai had that I wasn't entirely aware about: when my opponent attacks it in face down defense position, not only is it equipped with him, but damage calculations are CANCELLED! I should have set him first instead of my Sangan. But oh well, if I was going to lose life points from an attack from a different monster of his, so be it, "I'm setting one monster face down and ending my turn." I said. Only this time, I was thinking- kinda. (Why didn't I just equip my Gagagigo with the Black Pendant and destroy his monkey altogether?)

"More defense, kid? Perhaps I didn't explain my equip card's effect well enough the first time?" he taunted as he drew his next card. "I'm setting two cards face down and summon Blazing Inpachi (1850/0) in attack mode!" Now THIS was one of the weirdest cards I had ever seen! It kinda looked like that Mokujin tree thingy from Tekken 3 on fire. I laughed when he summoned it to the field. Unfortunately, I was the only one who found it funny and looked like a complete fool being the only one laughing in the whole arena. So anyway, the duel continued, "Berserk Gorilla, attack his defense monster!" And that same force of fire destroyed my Kisetai (300/800). "Oh, too bad! Looks like you lose 1200 more life points!"

"Maybe you should look again-" I said that cliché comeback to such a comment and wanted to slap myself in the forehead as he made a grimace deliberately communicating the message, "Oh God, NO! He did**NOT** just say that!"

After a second or two he said, "Why aren't your life points dropping?" I answered his question by telling him all of Kisetai's effects, even about the one that raised my life points by 1000 (half of his Berserk Gorilla's attack) at each of his standby phases. He wasn't too thrilled about that, I must say. "But it's still my battle phase! Attack him directly, Blazing Inpachi!" As quick as a brushfire, he zipped directly towards me and punched me with a flaming wooden fist, brining my life points down to 4750. "Come ON, (my name)! Pick it up! Are you gonna let him win this easily?" Jack complained._Gee, what happened to this guy being my next 'victim'?_ I thought as I gave Jack the okay sign and turned back to the duel.

My turn, I drew my Princess of Tsurugi, which would bring his life points down at least 2000, but that Fairy Meteor Crush and his Blazing Inpachi's attack would cost me too much. So I then set my Soul Tiger (0/2100) with a plan and ended my turn.

"Defense again?" He sounded confused and drew a card. Instantly, my life points went up to 5750. I LOVE my Kisetai! "I'm gonna deal TWICE that amount you just recovered by attacking with my Blazing Inpachi first! Attack his defense monster!" I smiled as the incinerating tree thingy punched my hidden Soul Tiger.

"Sorry! That card's defense is higher than your pryo card's attack, so YOU lose 250 life points," I reported as he seemed to almost not care. "But don't forget," I reminded Larry, "about your gorilla's effect. You MUST attack with him when possible, regardless if you'll win the battle or not!" I smiled as he angrily complied, double-checking his beast's effect. "Fine- Berserk Gorilla, attack his Soul Tiger." My tiger just curled up into a ball and deflected the entire stream of fire off its fur, resulting in a small loss of 100 more life points for Larry.

"It was my turn again and I happily drew my next card. It was La Jinn! Although he wasn't useful to me right now, it was another fiend in my hand. But speaking of fiends, now was probably a good time to use my Summoned Skull and Black Pendant. With 3000 attack points out there, I'd easily soon have HIM defending instead of me. So, "I sacrifice my Soul Tiger to summon Summoned Skull (2500/1200) in attack mode! Plus, I equip him with the Black Pendant, which increases his attack to 3000!" I finally had some kind of advantage! "And now he attacks your Blazing Inpachi!" His newly equipped Black Pendant seemed to amplify his lightning abilities: a bright blue ball of light exploded from the dark piece of jewelry. The Summoned Skull grabbed this and somehow changed it into electricity: more powerful-looking than his usual lighting attack. The strike sped toward the fire card and struck it dead on, right after Larry activated a trap card, "It's Sakuretsu Armor. And when my opponent declares an attack, I can activate this and instantly destroy the attacking monster, so your Summoned Skull is now an unsummoned skull!" The lightning did hit the monster, but he had some special armor on that was so shiny and yet harshly abrasive and jagged. It reflected the strike right back at my fiend monster and destroyed it. I lost no life points, but Larry did because of Black Pendant... but what a waste! I became mad and scared at the same time. Could this be it for me? So far, I've only made little dents in his life points. He's been playing really well from the very start. And even when I was able to get one of my strongest monsters out there, he still managed to have the perfect defense lined up. I own a Sakuretsu Armor as well but never had it played against me... now I know how it feels...

"Okay! The fun continues with my turn!" Larry laughed and drew a card, bringing his hand to four cards. My life points rose to 6750 at his standby phase thanks to my Kisetai still out there...

"You're lucky that's still there, kid," Larry sounded pretty angry with my relatively high life point amount, despite his constant pummeling. "Anyway, I set one card face down and sacrfice my Blazing Inpachi," the burning monster instantly was reduced to embers leaving only a randomly floating red orb behind, "to summon my Dark Driceratops (2400/1500) in attack mode! This guy has the same effect as my Fair Meteor Crush card! But you don't even HAVE monsters on the field, so- both of you attack his life points directly!" He commanded both of his earth monsters to unleash their fury liberally onto my life points. That same river of fire from the gorilla and some spiked attack from that dinosaur together brought my life points down to 2350. This seemed hopeless. I had one turn left to at least delay my defeat. So I drew my next card and took a second to breathe before looking at it...

Of all the 52 cards in my deck, I happened to draw the one trap card that would at least give me hope of winning this duel. I set it and then set my Spear Cretin.

"Oh! Now he's trying to be strategic with a SINGLE trap or magic card. But you've still got your monster in defense," he drew his next card and my life points went up to 3350. "All I need to do is get rid of it and then attack you and I win. Ready?" He looked at the card he had just drawn. "And here we go! I'm activating the magic card Tribute to the Doomed! So by sending this Premature Burial in my hand to the graveyard, I can automatically destroy that face down monster." He finished. But in response to this, "I'M activating my Spirit Barrier trap card. As long as I have a monster on my side of the field, battle damage to me is zero!"

"You don't have any monsters, though- what good is it to you?" he asked.

"The card you destroyed was Spear Cretin (500/500). It lets us go back into our graveyards and special summon a monster in face up attack or face down defense. I'm choosing my Summoned Skull (2500/1200) in attack mode!" Larry went through his graveyard and summoned his only monster, Blazing Inpachi (1850/0) in attack mode.

"Don't forget your gorilla's negative effect!" I said with an antagonistic smile.

"Yeah yeah yeah- Berserk Gorilla, attack his Summoned Skull..." The flames hardly even bothered my fiend monster. In response, he launched his own lightning attack at it and completely annihilated the foolish mammal, resulting in a 500 life point loss for Larry. Slowly... I was bringing myself back from the brink... but what a long way I had to go!

"If you're done with your attempt at a comeback..." Larry still sounded pretty non-challant about this whole thing- as if he saw into the future with his as the victor...

He drew a card that brought up his hand to 2 cards. "Perfect," he smiled evilly, "I sacrifice my Blazing Inpachi to set one monster face down. It's your turn..."

I drew my next card, Rush Recklessly, and instantly set it down. I set my Princess of Tsurugi (900/700) face down just so I could have as many monsters as possible on the field so my Spirit Barrier wouldn't lose its effect. But then I thought about which monster I should attack. Should I attack his Dark Driceratops? It had 100 fewer attack points than my fiend. And if Larry activated a Rush Recklessly or something, I could just activate MINE and still win the battle. But what was this mysterious face down card? Not too many people SET a high level monster unless it has high defense, a good defense or both, quite possibly. Hey, wait a minute! With my Spirit Barrier out, this face down monster could have a billion defense points, and I still wouldn't feel a thing! At that instant, my mind was made up. I attacked his face down monster. He got angry as it was destroyed. It looked like that Sphinx thingy in Egypt- only this one had a nose.

"What the heck was that?" I asked as it violently exploded off the field because of my Summoned Skull's powerful surges of electricity. "That was the very rare Guardian Sphinx (1700/2400). If you let me flip summon it next turn, its effect would allow me to return ALL monster on your side of the field to your hand. So you were extremely lucky that you attacked it when you did."

My two friends behind me took a sigh of relief, "Yeah, (my name)! That's the way you do it! Make lucky guesses!" I laughed off the pressure that I had just expereinced and looked at the scoreboard. The life point values were pretty funny. I had 3350, Larry had 6650, nearly double.

"So now it's my turn- I see I'll have to be tougher," Larry said a bit disappointed. He drew a card, "Ah, HERE we go! I'm equipping my dinosaur card with Axe of Despair. It raises his attack by a baffling 1000 points! And now he attacks your Summoned Skull!" Larry forcefully declared. Somehow, the axe was meshed onto its tail. The dinosaur trodded forth and whipped his body around. The axe spun about and made a direct hit with my fiend card. It was the second time he was taken out. But, thanks to Spirit Barrier, my life points were safe and sound!

I drew my next card and stayed calm. All I needed to do was to continuously have at least one monster on the field, and I wouldn't lose life points. It turned out that I had drawn the Mad Dog of Darkness that I got before this duel started. But I set La Jinn just to have monsters on the field. Also, I flip summoned my Princess of Tsurugi (900/700) to activate her flip effect. "Now you lose 500 life points for every magic or trap card you've got there," I reported as he clenched his teeth and lowered his eyebrows all in anger. The scores were a bit closer now: 5150, Larry to 3350, me. I didn't care about her being in attack mode because of my Spirit Barrier- it was so cool!

Larry drew his next card and said, "This is getting to be irritating." He set one card in defense mode and attacked my princess the same way he attacked my Summoned Skull. She was gone- but no harm done.

I drew my next card and activated it. "I'm playing the field magic card Mystic Plasma Zone. It gives all DARK monsters a 500 point attack boost, but takes 400 of their defense." Upon the actiavtion of that card, an ominous veil of dark blue clouds sealed us all in and shrouded us in mystery. Lightning struck here and there, further conveying the feelings of danger and obscurity. Then, feeling comfortable in the majority of my monsters' element, I decided it was time to receive the kind of reconnaissance of my deck attainable only by setting my Big Eye (1700/600).

"More defense... what's wrong? Is 3400 attack points too much to handle?" he asked._Uh- 3400 attack points is too much for ANYone to handle, jerk!_ I thought to myself as he drew his next card. Happy with the result, his instantly activated it. And now here come the Swords of Revealing Light! All your face down monsters are now face up and for the next three of your turns you can't attack!"

Raining down from the now dark blue and clouded sky were countless swords made of pure light. It definitely looked strange in contrast with the field card I had just played. The swords of anti-darkness stabbed and got stuck into my side of the field. They were pulsing and being completely motionless as they chased away the dark. I flipped over my cards like I was supposed to and enjoyed the benefits of my Big Eye's effect, the top five cards on my deck were Bottomless Trap Hole, Change of Heart, Magician of Faith, Man-Eater Bug and Painful Choice. It seemed to be one good thing right after another. In fact, I left those five cards exactly how they were and returned them to the top of my deck.

"And now my Dark Driceratops attacks your defending La Jinn (2300/600)," Larry declared the attack. And that same axe-tail made quick work of my defending fiend. "Finally, for my main phase two, I flip summon my face down Balloon Lizard (500/1900). From now on, I put one counter on this guy for each of my standby phases. When he's finally destroyed, damage equal to 400 times the number of counters that were on him is inflicted upon the controller of the card that destroyed him.

"It's my turn now," I said as the swords made it kind of hard to see without squinting. I set the Bottomless Trap Hole that I had just drawn and set my Gagagigo. "Turn one is over, Larry!" I reported as he drew a card.

For some reason, a yellow orb came outta nowhere and absorbed into the Balloon Lizard and made it bigger. That must have been the counter for his standby phase. "I'm switching my Ballon Lizard to defense mode. Next, I'm activating Card Destruction. We each discard our hands and draw a number of cards equal to the number we just got rid of."

He was quiet long enough for us to draw our new cards, "And now I'm summoning Royal Magical Library (0/2000) in attack mode. Finally, my dinosaur attacks your Big Eye." And it was quickly destroyed with that axed tail of his.

And so began my second turn under the swords. I drew my Magician of Faith. I searched through my graveyard and noticed only one magic card in there: Black Pendant. _That might be useful..._ I thought,_But I may want to use this Change of Heart more than once. And neither of those cards would do me any good now anyway... But I need to keep monsters on the field for my Spirit Barrier to keep its effect._ I thought as I looked at the swords all around my field. "I'm setting one monster and ending my turn," I reported. As soon as I said that, the swords got a bit dimmer.

Larry drew a card and another orb made his Ballon Lizard grow bigger again. Then he switched his library into defense. He kept the card in his hand, attacked and destroyed my Gagagigo and ended his turn.

"Final turn with the swords, here!" I said as I drew my Man-Eater Bug. Obviously, I set it and ended my turn.

The bright swords vanished. We were soon once again enveloped by the dark blue shadows. It took my eyes a little while to adjust again.

Larry drew his next card and smirked, or at least I think he smirked; my eyes were still adjusting to the darkness... I did notice another counter making the Balloon Lizard still larger. "I summon Element Soldier (2000/800) in attack mode. Next, I equip my Royal Library with Megamorph just for the spell counter." Just then, a glowing green orb similiar to the ones involved with that Tower of Babel Andre was hit by flew into Larry's library card (pardon the pun). "And you may be interested to know that my Element Soldier has a special ability that now activates because there's an earth monster on the field. He negates the effect of an effect monster destroyed by him. Element Soldier, attack the defending card on my right!" The Element Soldier used his spear-like weapon to slash my Man-Eater Bug and destroyed it, negating its effect as is its own effect allows. "Ooh! Nice try there, buddy," Larry said. "And now my Dark Driceratops attacks your final defending monster. It was my Magician of Faith (300/400) whose effect I used to get my Black Pendant back from the graveyard. Thankfully, he couldn't attack anymore and it was then my turn. I drew my Painful Choice and realized that I needed to play it in order to get a monster on the field. Then I renoticed my Change of Heart and got a pretty good idea regarding how to use my Painful Choice!

"I actiavte the magic card Painful Choice. It lets me pick five cards from my deck from which you must choose one to go into my hand. Then the rest are discarded to the graveyard." So I searched through my deck careful thinking out each possiblity. I wanted him to choose only one of the five cards that I had picked, so I tried to make the other four cards as unappetizing to him as possible. "Here we go!" I said as I put them face down on the special card graphic readers.

The cards were: Shadow Spell, Heavy Storm, Jinzo, Dark Necrofear and Sakuretsu Armor.

"Wow! This is a tough choice, I must say! Well, you're definitely not getting Sakuretsu Armor... or Dark Necrofear... or Shadow Spell." I put them in the graveyard one-by-one as he called them off. "So the card going in your hand will be... Jinzo, yeah." As I put Heavy Storm in my graveyard, I smiled. My plan had worked! So I proceeded with phase two, "I now activate Change of Heart and take control of your Dark Driceratops!" The huge dinosaur switched sides and was now facing his new opponent. "And I'll have him attack your Element Soldier!" For the last time in this duel, the huge dinosaur swung his tail around and shattered every holographic bone in that fiend's body. It resulted in a huge 1400 life point loss for Larry, Making the scores nearly even at 3350, me and 3750, him. "I'm nowhere near done. Now I'm using my Main Phase 2 to sacrifice your dinosaur to tribute summon the Jinzo (2900/1100) you chose to go into my hand! I now have a slight grip on this duel. Even though Jinzo's effect cancels out my Spirit Barrier, I don't have to really worry about you destroying him because now I equip him with my Black Pendant, it will increase HIS attack points to 3400. How do you like THAT!" I ended my turn.

Larry looked almost impressed. Even though I had just dished out killer damage to him by his own monster, he looked pretty confident... still... "I draw my card, my Balloon Lizard gets a fourth counter, and now I'm removing the three spell counters on my library so I can draw another card!" He calmly executed his actions and smirked (there was a whole lot of smirking going on during this duel, wasn't there?) at me in that classic, "You're toast" way.

"I sacrifice both my monsters to tribute summon one of the more powerful monsters out there, Andro Sphinx (3000/2500) in attack mode! Next, I equip him with Horn of the Unicorn, raising his attack to 3700!" I heard gasps of shock and amazement come from all directions. I, too, gasped in shock and amazement but, most of all, annoyance. My monsters have never been on the field for more than 3 turns! And now Jinzo was gonna die too? How unfair! But then he continued to speak, "But you'll be glad to know that this card cannot attack in the same turn it's summoned. So that gives you an extra turn to try and stop me- cool, eh? Take your turn."

I drew my next card not really knowing what this huge beast's attack was gonna look like. (It was amazing that I was facing this hugely powerful monster, and all I could think about was how its attack was going to_look_!) So I drew my Judgment of Anubis, my absolute rarest trap card... and possibly rarest in my whole deck. Why weren't the rare hunters going after THIS card? But I set it without delay and left my Jinzo in attack mode, hoping my face down Rush Recklessly would bail me out.

"Nothing?" he almost sympathetically asked and drew his next card, "I set this one magic/trap card face down and, finally, attack you with my Andro Sphinx!

It was pretty exciting that I was going to see this huge monster attack my Jinzo. For a second, he did nothing. But then a gust of wind blew by and a white light started to gather behind him. Then he siphoned this light through his body until it glowed out his infuriated eyes. Then he jumped as high as he could, almost above the scoreboard, and that's where I activated my quick play magic card Rush Recklessly. It increased my Jinzo's attack to 4100. Jinzo tilted up his head and, with his new found strength, fired his red optic beams at the attacking beast who was suspended in mid-air as I activated that card. But Larry did the same exact thing. HE activated a Rush Recklessly as well! So everything was the way it was before, only 700 extra points on each side. When all that adding was over, Andro Sphinx came down with blazing speed and used his razor sharp claws to slice my machine monster in quarters. It all happened so quickly but looked SO COOL! My Jinzo was destroyed and I lost 300 life points. But HE lost 500 life points because of my Black Pendant, once again.

The scores were even closer now. He was still winning, barely, 3250-3050.

My turn again and I drew one of my Giant Germ cards. I set it and ended my turn.

"Hey, defense won't work. And your trap card won't save you this time," Larry began his explanation as he drew a card, "My monster has another special ability. When he destroys a defense monster, it inflicts damage to you equal to half of the destroyed monster's attack points. And it's NOT treated as battle damage! So attack his defending monster and take a bite out of his life points!" Larry commanded his beast card. And with the same show of acrobatics, his monster got rid of my fiend card. He lost 500 life points because of Giant Germ's effect, I lost 750 life points because of Andro Sphinx's effect. And then I special summoned my other Giant Germ in attack mode as is his effect.

On my next turn I drew my Witch of the Black Forest. I considered setting her but thought against it because even if he did summon a monster next turn, I had my Bottomless Trap Hole card still out there. So I switched my Giant Germ to defense and ended my turn.

Larry drew his next card and smirked... again.

"And now you can kiss goodbye any hopes you had of winning this duel when I destroy your Spirit Barrier trap card with this: a classic magic card named Remove Trap!"

As soon as he activated it, I couldn't believe my luck! All I had to do was activate my Judgment of Anubis, and I'd win- so I did. And the resulting show was amazing..

"Hold on, Larry. I've got this trap card. It's called Judgment of Anubis. It's extremely rare with a few killer effects. First, at the cost of one card from my hand sent to the graveyard, I can negate the activation of and destroy your Remove Trap since it's a magic card with the effect of destroying one of MY magic or trap cards. And as a bonus, I get to destroy one of your face up monsters and inflict damage to your life points equal to the full attack of the monster!"

As soon as I discarded that Witch of the Black Forest that I thankfully decided to keep in my hand, a sarcophagus materialized in the trap zone I activated it in. The dark setting that Mystic Plasma Zone provided was absolutely perfect for this! A dark purple orb shiverred up from the empty casket and sped in a straight line toward his activated magic card and destroyed it. Then the sky got even darker, preparing us all for a sight like no other. Suddenly a whirlwind. A torrential windstorm sprouting from the depths of the now opened sarcophagus. It seemed to form a tunnel from the Andro Sphinx to the inside of the beautifuly dark and ominous coffin. With a constant flow of immense power, the enormous beast was slowly lifted off its feet and dragged dramatically into its final resting place. Trying to resist, it wriggled its body trying to free itself from the deadly grip of the windy terminal. Finally and yet kind of sadly, the beast was released into the shadowy pit of this powerful trap card. The lid slid back on top, sealing the beast away for eternity. But it wasn't over. As soon as the lid stopped moving, the statue of Anubis's eyes lit up an evil red. Slowly, it got brighter and brighter. It seemed to visually match the attack strength of the now deceased monster that sarcophagus contained. Then with a violent, deadly display of red, a beam with the thickness of half the arena entirely submerged Larry, brining his life points down, without question, to zero. But even after that the beam kept going, and the sound of the sheer power and destruction that this trap card possessed got louder and more terrifying. I kind of liked it- having such a powerful card at my disposal. About five seconds later, the beam very slowly tapered away revealing Larry with his elbows on his dueling stand, covering his head- almost kind of shaking from that statue's massive attack.

The duel ended there, and many gasps and sighs of relief came from random people in the stands. The darkness of my field card lifted, the holograms disappeared, and I will never know what those two face down cards he had were.

I heaved a sigh of well-earned relief and descended down that blue platform making sure I had every last one of my 52 cards. Andre and Jack congratulated me with hand slaps and back-pats and whatever else including them saying numerous times, "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Come to think of it, it WAS pretty cool.

Larry and I met in front of Linda. We all knew what was next. He got $500 and I picked his Guardian Sphinx card with no intention of putting it in my deck. If all these rare hunters wanted my rarest cards, I should take one of their rarest cards if I beat them, right? Larry spoke before he departed, "The rare hunters always eventually get what they set out for. I had simply underestimated your strength. Josh will not be as easy to beat as I was here. Good luck... you'll need lots of it." He finished his angry gripe of defeat and walked out of the stadium. Andre was especially proud of me as we walked back to our seats in the stands. The next two duelists would be Jon and duelist #9.

_I Now it's just a matter of time..._ I thought.


	21. Tournament Stories part 21

Tournament Stories part 21

So Jon had quickly vanquished duelist #9 with his undeniable dueling skills. His fiends are powerful. But I've got some powerful fiends too. And now that he'd won that duel, I'll be against him in my next duel. I could hardly wait!

But first, Jack was up, and he was dueling against that tall, dark and creepy rare hunter with bright blonde hair. Before anything happened, Linda talked to them both and offered them one of the final four rare cards as is entitled to them having been part of the top 8. I looked over Jack's shoulder as he opened it. He was considerably happy when he saw it was a simple Soul of the Pure. I looked at this rare hunter guy who was lowly chuckling to himself as he neatly put his newly acquired card into his deck. Linda told the two duelists to shuffle each other's decks. It was a silent process until the decks were handed back to their owners.

We never would have thought that this guy was actually able to talk! He said his name was Josh and that Jack had no chance of winning. Obviously, we thought that this was just tough talk to get his competitor stoked and what not._This Josh must be the same Josh that Larry told me about after I beat him._ I thought. But, going back to the current dialogue, this rare hunter dude would indeed later prove to be good.

But anyway, Jack and Josh shook hands. Andre and I followed our friend to the blue side of the field. Linda, of course, was already up in her tall tower. It seemed to take forever for Jack to rise up in his platform. Maybe the glaring sun made it seem like the eternity that it clearly wasn't.

"I always permit he who is hunted to be the first one to go," Josh nearly mumbled his words and used more words than he had to. But Jack understood and there was no turning back now!

Jack drew his first card and set one of them face down. Then he summoned Harpie's Brother (1800/600) in attack mode.

"...How in this world did you make it THIS far in this tournament?" Josh asked as if it was the easiest rhetorical question in the world. "I shall easily put you in your proper place. First, now, I'm going to be activating my Ookazi magic card. You lose 800 life points. And now I'm going to set down one of my own magic/trap cards as well as activate this: Bait Doll. I force the activation of a face down trap. If its timing is bad, it's negated and destroyed. If it is a magic card- nothing happens. But either way Bait Doll returns to my deck and I shuffle it. So what's that face down card you've got?" Jack flipped it over, and the card revealed itself. "Ah, good! The destroyed trap is none other than Trap Hole! That clears the way for me to summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode. And now he gets rid of your Harpie's Brother," Instead of ordering his monster like most other duelists do, Josh more or less informed everyone what was going on. The dragon simply zipped forth, slashed at the hawk-like beast and dashed back to his starting point. Jack lost 100 more life points.

"Thank you for the supplying to me of an early lead. How are you going to retaliate?" If anyone else had said these words, they'd sound funny in the fact that they're long-winded. But this guy's low voice and obvious no-nonsense attitude almost made these remarks sound cryptic.

"I'm not too worried about that," Jack said back to him. "This isn't the first time I've been at an early disadvantage; just watch..." Jack said with a definite tone of smugness.

"I'm setting one card in defense and a magic/trap face down too. Your turn."

"I still remain confused. Are you presently here to duel or hide?" Josh drew his next card. "I set a monster as well in addition to a magic/trap card face down." And my dragon attacks your monster which is defending." Josh informed.

Hah, that's my Nightmare Penguin (900/1800) you just attacked. So now I get to return your Luster Dragon back to your hand." Jack said happily.

While Josh took back his dragon he spoke, "I entirely do sincerely doubt that this will at all assist you in your pathetic quest to victory," Josh said that whole sentence in one breath as Jack drew his next card. "I summon Enraged Battle Ox (1700/1000) in attack mode! If he destroys a defense position monster of yours with a defense lower than his attack, you get that difference subtracted from your life points!" Jack explained.

"I am a rare hunter. I obviously know the effect of the Enraged Battle Ox. We use them as kindling for our nightly fire. Now, attack if you so deem it necessary."

"Hah, to put a nice sized dent in your life points, it's VERY necessary. Attack his defense monster!" This souped-up version ofthe Battle Ox ran off for the hidden card and took a diving slash at it. The card revealed itself to be Hiro's Shadow Scout (650/500). "And now you lose 1200 life points!" Jack stated the obvious.

"And now you get to draw three cards from your deck. However, if any of them are magic cards, they must go to the graveyard immediately. So draw three cards and let us see what occurs afterward." Josh told Jack what to do.

The three cards he drew were his second Harpie's Brother, one of his Dian Keto's, and his new Soul of the Pure. Without talking, Jack discarded the two magic cards and ended his turn.

After Josh drew his card, he summoned his Luster Dragon (1900/1600) again without saying a word and told him to attack the Enraged Battle Ox. That attack nearly evened out the scores: 6900, Jack to 6800, Josh. "It seems to me as if the duel's control has fallen back into my hands," Josh talked just to get on Jack's nerves.

Jack drew his next card and immediately set it in defense mode.

"More hiding from what is inevitably going to turn out to be your final demise?" Josh intimidated. "I think that I shall make this whole thing more interesting. I've just drawn the card that will win this duel for me sooner than later... I activate the magic card Wave-Motion Cannon!" As soon as he slapped it onto the platform, a blaze of bluish white light exploded from out of nowhere and formed the green jar-shaped cannon. "This is how it functions: This cannon will collect 1000 points of power for every one of my standby phases. During one of my main phases, I can destroy this card and unleash the pent up power upon you as a direct attack to your life points. So the longer it stays around, and the more standby phases I have, the higher of a threat it is to you, understand?" Josh continued without waiting for a response, "And I set this card in defense mode."

Jack suddenly looked panic-stricken. With his life points only at 6900, all Josh needed was seven turns to bring his cannon to a high enough power level. Did Jack have anything in his deck that could stop it? ...Probably...

"And now my dragon attacks your face down monster," Josh watched his dragon slice the face down Familiar Knight (1200/1400) in two. "Oh great- was that, apparently, who I think it was?" Josh said resentfully.

"If you're talking about that Familiar Knight, then yes. And now we each get to special summon a level four monster from our hands," Jack responded. "But I don't currently possess a monster of level four." Josh complained, still reserving his ominous composure and evil-sounding voice. "Then I guess this effect means nothin' to you! But I've got a monster, Harpie's Brother (1800/600) in attack mode!" Jack spit out the truth and drew his next card.

With a monster on the field now, Jack could tribute summon a more powerful monster to get a foothold in this duel. "And now I'm sacrificing my Harpie's Brother to summon King of Yamimakai (2000/1530) in attack mode!" The evil, spiked monster reeked of evil. "Attack his dragon!" Jack commanded. By extending his hand out, he unleashed a deep blue electric attack upon this dragon and destroyed it. Josh's life points fell to 6700.

"Seriously now. Is that minuscule monster the best you've got?" Josh intimidated as he drew his next card. "Anyway, it's my standby phase. So that means that my Wave-Motion Cannon gets a burst of attack energy." A small glow of white light seemed to spiral inward toward the nozzle of the cannon and formed a tiny shiny sphere. The dials and indicators on the side of it twitched up a bit and a faint noise light like that of an electric generator could be heard. Josh looked at the card he had drawn and smirked, "I set one card face down and I'll set my last card in defense mode. As soon as his hand was emptied, Josh crossed his arms and slightly lowered his head. And it took him a second or two before he said, "It is now your turn."

Jack aggressively drew his next card and set it face down in his magic zone as well as another card face down from his hand. "And now I'll attack yourdefending monster on my left." The evil king zapped and destroyed Josh's face down Giant Germ (1000/100). "Because you destroyed my germ, here, you lose 500 life points."

"No!" Jack interrupted, "I activate Numinous Healer. When I take damage, she replenishes 1000 of my life points.

"Nice try- but I think that I'll now activate Mystical Space Typhoon and get rid of your pathetic trap," the quick play magic card effortlessly annihilated Jack's trap card before it could even take effect.

"One way or another, I AM getting life points! So, in response to your typhoon card, I'm activating Gift of the Mystical Elf. She gives me 300 life points for every monster on the field, and I mean every: defense, attack, normal summon, special summon etc.,"

"How is that going to help you with only one monster on the field? Since you've destroyed my Giant Germ back there, I activate Michizure. Now you lose your King of Yamimakai." The chain was finally complete. Michizure swallowed up Jack's fiend card, Jack got only 300 life points, although he had just lost 500. So it was more like he only lost 200. (Josh had no second Giant Germ in his deck to summon in case you're wondering.), and Numinous Healer never took effect. After all of that crap, the scores were tied at 6700. And now it was Josh's turn.

He drew a card and, as expected, another sphere of light welled up within the huge, ancient-looking cannon. Three of four of the lights flickered, the humming got a bit louder and the dials jolted every now and again. It was still rather calm, but 2000 is a huge number of life points to lose. "I, here, set my only card face down and end my turn."

Jack drew a card and was surprised to hear Josh say, "I now activate a trap card that I had just set on my last turn. It's called Drop Off. And as soon as it's activated, you MUST discard to the graveyard whatever card it was that you drew." So Jack dejectedly obeyed the card's rules and examined his hand while Josh stood there, arms crossed again and silently chuckling to himself.

Jack only had two cards. So the best he could do was set one monster and end his turn. It seemed pretty desperate for Jack at this point.

"It is once again my turn so soon? I must say, thisduel has been quite disappointing thus far." Josh drew a card. His cannon absorbed yet another sphere of light conjured up from nowhere. The lights flashed faster and a faint, steady beeping sound could be heard in addition to the grinding of the motor within it. The dials on the side looked to be pointing at about halfway.

He continued his turn, "I sacrifice my face down Cat of Ill Omen (500/300) to summon my Giga Gagagigo (2450/1500). Now, before I tear apart your defensive monster, my cat has a rather unique special effect... Once it is flipped, in this case, my sacrificing of it activated its flip effect, I get to now select one trap card from my deck and put it on the very top of it. If "Necrovalley" was active on the field, I'd be able to add that card to my HAND, but oh well. Giga Gagagigo attacks your face down monster!" The mechanized reptile bolted across the field. At very close range, he slashed to pieces Jack's face down Maryokutai (900/900). "Your turn once again!" Josh almost sounded friendly that time.

Jack nervously drew a card. Defeat seemed more and more likely as that machine got more and more powerful. He set in defense mode the card that he drew and ended his turn.

Josh drew his trap card, "More power for my cannon..." he stated. The collection of power at the front was very bright at this point. The lights flickered quickly and randomly. The beeping sound was now louder and sharper. Think of the back-up alert on school busses only a higher note and at a slower tempo. The entire cannon seemed to start to shake, too. And most of the dials were passed the halfway point and dancing between the halfway mark and the 100 mark. "I could easily bring your life points down to the red zone, you know. But I'm so close and you show no signs of resilience. So I'm going to wait. I'll set this card face down... gee I wonder... and attack your defense monster with my reptile!

Another close range slash revealed the Magician of Faith (300/400). "Her flip effect, as I'm sure you know, lets me get back a magic card from the graveyard and add it to my hand," Jack defiantly said. Perhaps there WAS hope for him!

"I'm sure that it will matter not; you only have TWO magic cards in your graveyard. And they are both life point recovery cards. Why don't you just surrender?" Josh intimidated. "But do what you must. My turn is now over."

Jack drew a card and wasn't happy. He set a monster and activated his Dian Keto which he brought back because of his spellcaster's effect.

"Why must you make it so easy to win against you? In response to your magic card, I activate my face down trap Cemetery Bomb. It has the potential to be an extremely powerful trap card, or just something to get your opponent angry. It all depends on the number of cards in my opponent's graveyard. For each card, regardless of its type, you lose 100 life points!"

Jack counted the cards in his graveyard, "Yikes, so that means I lose 1300 life points?" Jack was disappointed.

"Oh, but don't worry. You've activated your Dian Keto, remember? So you gain 1000 of those lost points right back!" The scores were at Josh: 6700 Jack: 6400.

"But now my reptile attacks your face down monster!" Josh's monster took another close range slash at his face down Des Feral Imp (1600/1800). "My monster has a flip effect which your attack activated: I get to select one card from my graveyard and add it to my deck, then shuffle it." So Jack carefully selected one card and put it into his deck, then shuffled it two or three times. Then he drew his next card. He set it in defense mode and ended his turn.

"I think that it is apparent that you have no idea how close you are to losing this duel," Josh drew his next card and the power increased in his Wave-Motion Cannon again. A number on the side slowly built up from 4000 to 5000. A big red light then began to blink right next to the power meter. "And now I shall activate the equip card I just drew. To my reptile monster, I equip the card Gravity Axe- Grarl. It increases his attack by 500 AND stops you from changing any of your monsters' battle positions as long as it's face-up on the field. So now he attacks your defense monster!" Josh happily watched his more powerful monster make quick work of Jack's hidden Mysterious Puppeteer (1000/1500).

"Next turn, you're mine!" Josh warned in a surprisingly short sentence. Jack looked regretfully at the only card in his hand and drew one from his deck. Deeply saddened by his stroke of bad luck, Jack set one card face down next to his other face down magic or trap card and ended his turn.

"How unfortunate that this is the way you have to go," Josh began and drew his next card. The dials and indicators looked like they were pulsing and springing loose from the huge cannon that was practically exploding as it sat there, eager to use up its stored strength. "I summon the Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness (1800/1500)! And now he attacks your life points directly!" Josh declared. The aquatic purple warrior wielded his staff with the golden part pointed directly at Jack. Suddenly, sea green bolts of... something (it didn't look like electricity) squiggled towards Jack and brought his life points down to 4600. "And now my Giga Gagagigo attacks you directly, too!" Josh happily announced as his reptile zipped across the field. His newly equipped axe looked out of place in the hands of a mechanized reptile, but the razor sharp blade still reflected the sun perfectly as he ran at Jack. He reached his target, did something of a 360 in the air and performed an upward slash with his axe. "Not just yet!" Jack interrupted. "I've got my trap card to protect me!" He flipped over his newest set card, "It's Nutrient Z! If I'm about to take 2000 points of damage or more during the damage step, I increase my life points by 4000 BEFORE getting hit by that attack! So, in reality, it's like my life points just went up by 1050!" The upward slash of the axe fought against a sudden soft green bubble-type shield that slowed down the speed of the attack. Even though his life points went from 8600 to 5650, Jack hardly felt it.

"Too bad for you, though, this duel is now done..." Josh revealed an evil grin and continued, "NOW! By my magic card's effect, I hearby send my Wave-Motion Cannon to the graveyard and therefore inflicting 6000 points of damage unto you!"

As soon as that card flopped into the graveyard, the virtual version on the field went to work. All the dials that weren't fully charged sprinted up to and stayed at their maximum levels without flickering back and forth between any other level. The red light on the side continued to blink but was now accompanied by a loud warning sound in addition to the other sound already going off. It was sheer pandemonium! Hydraulic systems powered up and released steam, more beams of white energy collected in the firing mechanism, and sparks burst out of cracks that were now in the sides- it was gonna blow!

But then, silence. It was comparable to the sound of taking a deep breath out loud and holding it... very quiet very sudden. But before we had a second's chance to realize the unforseen drop in noise, a gigantic ball of bluish white energy rushed toward Jack at an incomprehensible speed. This thing was as fast as lightning and just as loud and bright. It was over in a flash, but the resulting explosion will be forever imprinted in my mind. Upon impact of this huge ball of power, there was electricity everywhere and the ground very nearly shook with the loudness of the sound similar to a huge shock of electricity from a Vandergraph generator only a thousand times louder and longer.

It subsided leaving Jack there, wide-eyed and gaping in disbelief and bewilderment of the recent series of events. He was, of course, okay but it took him a while to gather up his cards, turn around and descend in his platform to join us.

"That was a tough duel," Andre tried to show compassion for his recently defeated friend. But Jack just nodded in agreement and led the way to Linda next to whom was standing the victor of this duel.

"For you, duelist #22, $500 for making it all the way to this tournament's top 8. And to you, duelist #18, ONE card from your opponent's deck. Josh looked through it and concluded, "None of these cards appear as if they shall help me out at all. But since it is a rule, I choose this Thunder of Ruler," and he walked away.

"Hehh... I guess this means I'm out, guys. Good luck with the rest of your duels; I don't wanna see any more of this place, I'm going to the boat," and Jack walked away as well. So it was down to Andre and me. There were only five duelists left... which would be shrunk down to four after Andre's next duel in a few minutes.


	22. Tournament Stories part 22

Tournament Stories part 22

"Let's keep it up at the pace we're going," Linda said. She was apparently exhausted from all that standing up in her tower platform and wanted this tournament to be over and done with. And since Andre liked to make his duels quick, it would be no problem.

I looked around and noticed that I was one out of five remaining duelists. I remember that I, at first, thought that I didn't have what it took to be a good duelist as I am now... as I like to believe. At that moment I, for some reason, took the cards I had won so far out of my pouch and looked at them in nostalgia... The Empress Judge from Jenny... The Mr. Volcano from Craig... the Spiritualism from Justin... the Numinous Healer from "Z.K..." the Offerings to the Doomed from that rare hunter sister "S" who had given me the pouch that I was wearing... the De-Fusion from Travis... the Tribe-Infecting Virus from Christina... and that Guardian Sphinx I had just won from Larry. Each of them had different personalities, dueling techniques, strengths, weaknesses and so forth. I had continued to persevere again and again. So it was no wonder that I was part of the final duelists who were, by this point, out of the stands and just standing more or less close to Linda. There was Jon, Josh and myself waiting for Andre's and whoever this kid's was duel to be over. I tried not to look at Jon only a few feet to my left. But we were both highly aware of our duel, which would be next.

Andre and this kid who said his name was Mort each took one of the last two of the eight cards that were entitled to the final eight. I walked behind Andre and saw only the name of it as he was putting it into his deck, Different Dimension Dragon. I think it was a light attribute. And I saw by its orange color that it was an effect monster, but nothing more- not even its level. However, Andre never played it during the rest of his duels, so I will never know what that card does... and I was about to ask him, but after he put the card in his deck, he instantly turned to Mort so the decks could be shuffled, and so that was it. Besides, Andre would probably just say, "Shh, not now, I've gotta concentrate on beating this kid!"

So I kept my mouth shut. And up Linda went, up the two duelists went, and this duel went...

Andre was offered to start off the duel, but he declined. So Mort drew his sixth card. "I set one card face down," Mort said simply. His voice was deeper than his height led on. And his tone was much more serious and dire than his light skin and awkward posture made it appear. But there was something almost evil about this kid... I think?

"Alright," Andre responded. I'm setting one card face down and also setting one card in defense."

"Hmm..." Mort examined his newly drawn card and set it face down. Then he set a monster and ended his turn.

"Not much of an agressor, are you?" Andre taunted as he swiftly took the top card from his deck. Mort just lightly tilted his head down and faintly showed his teeth in a small smile and squinted his eyes a tiny bit. There was something up his sleeve, most likely. But Andre, of course, wanted to get this over with.

"I'm summoning Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) in attack mode!" And in response to that, Mort interrupted, "And in response to that, I'm activating the trap card Threatening Roar. This card prevents you from making any attack," Mort said in his simple, yet almost evil voice. Once Mort flipped over that trap card, an immensely loud roar burst from seemingly nowhere, paralyzing Andre's attack mode monster.

A bit shocked by this recent unlikely turn of events, Andre used a back-up plan, "Okay, I'll just equip my fiend with this Malevolent Nuzzler which raises his attack to 2600."

Mort drew his next card and smiled. "I sacrifice both of my face down monsters, Nightmare Penguin (900/1800) and Old Vindictive Magician (450/600) to summon my Despair from the Dark (2800/3000) in attack mode! And both of my sacrificed monsters have effects. First, my Old Vindictive Magician destroys your Archfiend Soldier, since it's been flipped. And my penguin is returning your face down monster to your hand," Mort looked pretty proud of himself. "Behold! One of the most powerful zombies in the game! Isn't he so cool!" Mort took a step back and thrust both of his arms in front of him with his palms facing the sky and clutching his fingers. From the ground erupted a purple and red, definitely cool, zombie monster with undeniable power as was witnessed when he took a huge slash at Andre's life points. The scores were already far apart, 8000- Mort to 5200- Andre.

Andre nervously drew his next card. Did you catch that? He NERVOUSLY drew his next card. Never before have I seen Andre reluctantly take a look at his next draw. He even held it so far away from him that I could see that it was his Michizure. Andre was relieved and immediately set it down. Then he set a monster in defense and ended his turn.

"How pathetic that you are hiding from me. Surely you can't be too afraid of my zombies," Mort taunted. Under his breath, Andre responded, "Just keep talkin', you little brat. You're in for the surprise of your life!"

Mort continued, "I summon Nightmare Horse (500/400) in attack mode! His special ability lets him attack your life points directly even if you have a monster on your side of the field. Attack him now!" His glowing blue horse was barely recognizable as a horse in its tattered rags and constantly changing shape. It opened its mouth and launched a stream of blue fire up and over Andre's field. Andre took the damage. His life points decreased to 4700.

"AHA ha ha ha! Why do you show no resilience? Are you trying to lose on purpose?" Mort once again evilly spoke too much for his own good. His next move cost him dearly, "And now my Despair from the Dark attacks your face down monster!"

From deep inside it, a bright orange sphere was building up within the misty monster. Then it quickly moved up its body and was forced out of its mouth and eyes perfectly matching their shapes. It looked really cool how these orange shapes approaching Andre's monster looked like a reverse Jack O'Lantern. The attack made full contact and vaporized Andre's defending Man-Eater Bug (450/600).

"HA! Yes, you're in for it now! I activate my face down Michizure! When one of my monsters is destroyed, I can do the same to one of yours! So I choose to destroy your Nightmare Horse. And my Man-Eater Bug, I'm sure you know, destroys a monster once it's flipped. So HE'S destroying your Despair from the Dark!" And with two huge explosions, the field was cleared of all monsters, and it was Andre's turn.

He drew his next card and activated it, "I'm activating my Pot of Greed spell card! It let's me draw two cards from my deck... Hopefully they'll be good ones..." Andre said to himself as he took the top two from his deck.

"...Unless you can immediately summon a monster with 3300 attack points, I'll still be winning even after you attack me," Mort said while Andre was considering his options.

"Whatever. I'm summoning another Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) in attack mode. And he attacks you directly!" Andre demanded of his fiend. With amazing speed and accuracy, the soldier found its target and took a nasty slash at Mort with his sword.

"Not bad..." Mort complimented his opponent as his life points beeped down to 6100. He waited for Andre to end his turn and then drew his next card. "But try THIS! This card has death written all over it! I equip YOUR monster with Ekibyo Drakmord!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ekibyo Drakmord, aside from having a weird name, is most probably (although not definitely) another one of those broken cards. It's effect verbatim is: "A monster equipped with this card cannot attack. Destroys the equipped monster at the end of the 2nd of the player controlling the monster. At that time, this card is returned to the owner's hand." Now, I ask you to tell me with confidence which card that "this card" is referring to in the final sentence of that card's effect. Is it the destroyed card or the equip card? If it were to be the equip card, that wouldn't be too fair because you can just play the card on another monster of your opponent's on your next turn which, according to the equip card's effect, would be in a few seconds because the monster is destroyed at the end of the 2nd of your opponent's turns. Does it sound fair to any of you? But for this story, I'm going to use the interpretation that the equip card returns to their hand. So anyway, back to the story...

"That sounds like some kind of disgusting food," Andre tried to be funny but failed miserably. He just didn't have the sarcastic tone in his voice to pull it off. A green cloud hovered above Andre's Archfiend Soldier and then instantly pounded downward resulting in a huge puff of green gas. The fiend card turned green and couldn't move. "No, it's an effective equip card. It stops your Archfiend Soldier from attacking and destroys it after your second turn once it's equipped. Then this card gets returned to my hand so the fun can begin all over again." Mort smiled and continued, "And I also set this in defense mode."

Andre really didn't seem to care about his infected monster because he sacrificed it to summon his Jinzo (2400/1500) on his next turn. But before he summoned him, Andre noticably grinned at the card he drew. "And now the notorious Jinzo attacks your face down monster!" Jinzo held his forearms in front of him with his palms facing each other. A black ball of energy was summoned in between them. Then Jinzo unleashed it and decimated the defending Headless Knight (1450/1700). "What now, buddy? There are no monsters_I_ can think of that are level four or lower with attack points of at least 2450! And now traps are useless. So what do you say to a surrender?" Andre offered Mort the chance to back down, not that he needed to be offered. Andre just liked to shake his opponents up...

"You can forget THAT. I'm here to win just like you; my move!" Mort drew a card. "Here's one card in defense..." he paused for suspense as he held another card in the air. "And I also activate Dark Snake Syndrome, a very potent life point damage card. Here's how it works... For each one of my standby phases, both of us take direct damage. At first it will be 200. Then at my next standby phase it will be 400 and it shall continue to double for EVERY stadby phase of mine! So mind your life points! Ha ha ha!" Mort ended his turn leaving Andre in a relatively tight spot. It wasn't all that bad; he had Jinzo on the field.

Andre drew a card and set it face down next to his other magic/trap card. Then he set a monster and attacked with Jinzo, "Jinzo now attacks your defense monster." Andre watched anxiously as the black attack destroyed the hidden Kryuel (1000/1700). "HA! And now that Kryuel's been destroyed as a result of battle, I get to flip a coin and call it. If I'm right, I get to destroy a monster on your field. If I'm wrong, nothing happens." Linda pressed a button on some console and a holographic coin appeared into view in front of the two duelists. It was big enough for everyone (all six of us) to see it. Mort called 'tails' and the coin lifted off. Within the time of 3 seconds it must have spun fifty times but ultimately landed on heads... which means that tails was facing up- Mort had called the toss correctly! Out of Mort's graveyard sprouted up Kryuel's spear. It absorbed the coin somehow and homed in on Jinzo, piercing it and destroying it.

"Well doesn't that just stink!" Mort taunted.

Mort drew a card on his turn and smiled once he looked at the card, "It's time for the first of what I hope are many damages from my Dark Snake Syndrome!" A faint black cloud hovered over each duelist's head and was gone in a flash. Andre's life points decreased to 4500. Mort's decreased to 5900. Mort looked at the card he had just drawn, the third card in his hand, and smirked, "And just to make sure you don't try any funny stuff, I'm bringing down your life points even more by summoning this guy. Gravekeeper's Curse (800/800) inflicts 500 points of direct damage to your life points simply when he's normal summoned, flip summoned OR special summoned!" Andre's life points decreased to the exact middle of the road: 4000.

So Andre drew a card. He had one monster in defense, three cards in his hand, and two magic or traps face down. "I'm summoning Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode. Attack his Gravekeeper's Curse!" As it is always is with this lady, her violent red attack demolished the other spellcaster on the field, taking Mort's life points down to 5150.

Then it was Mort's turn again. He drew a card and announced, "It's my standby phase again! This time we both lose 400 life points!" The black cloud came back again but was darker and hung around for a bit longer. Andre's life points were at 3600. Mort's weren't far behind at 4750.

"You think that's funny, don't you?" Andre asked as both dark clouds vanished.

"Hee hee, actually I do!" Mort snapped back with a fake giggle. "Anyway, I'm setting a monster in defense. Your move."

Andre drew a card and set it._Andre can't take too many more of those direct attacks to his life points. I hope he's got a plan like he always does... Where the heck is his Great Maju Garzett?_ I thought to myself, honestly a bit doubtful of Andre's abilities at that point.

"I'm flipping my defending Mask of Darkness (400/900) over so I can activate his flip effect. I get to take a trap card from my graveyard and put it in my hand. And now I'm setting it." So now everybody knew that he had a Michizure face down. "Next, I'm summoning my Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) into attack mode. It's your move, Mort."

I didn't know what he was getting at. But, apparently, good things come to those who wait...

Mort drew a card and loved the sound of the decreasing life points. This time they each lost 800. In all so far, both Andre and Mort have lost 1400 life points because of that one card alone! Andre's life points were dwindling at 2800. Mort's were at 3950. Mort began his turn, "First I'm setting one card face down right next to my Dark Snake Syndrome. After that... I'm gonna..." you could tell that he was trying (poorly) to think on his feet. So he ultimately made a decision without thinking- and it cost him, "I'm sacrificing my face down Skull Dog Marron (1350/2000) to summon Pumpking the King of Ghosts (1800/2000)! And although I'm fully aware of your Michizure out there, I'm having my zombie attack your Maha Vailo!"

The huge dark orange punmpkin with one eye whipped its vines forward and flailed them about rapidly as its attack on Maha Vailo. "I've got something better than that. I'm activating Waboku! It decreases that damage to zero, so my spellcaster is unharmed," Andre countered, but Mort still had a plan, "I can still get to your life points with this: Cemetary Bomb! For each card in your graveyard, you lose 100 life points!" Andre couldn't believe it. In an attempt to save himself, he activated another card, "Well I'm activating Mystical Space Typhoon," Andre said calmly.

"You idiot! Cemetary Bomb is a trap card! And Mystical Space Typhoon works only on magic cards!" Mort yelled as the electric arc from Andre's graveyard grew bigger.

"...Duh!" Andre laughed as he was struck with the electric bolt coming from his graveyard dealing him 600 points of damage. Mort's Dark Snake Syndrome, the magic card Andre had targeted, was being sucked down a miniature black hole much like a toilet's effect on an ant.

So after all of that, Andre's life points were at a considerably low 2200. Mort still had 3950. But, on the upside, Andre was threatened no more by direct damage. And, best of all, it was Andre's turn.

After he drew his card and took a quick look at the field, he put his plan into action, "I'm summoning my Tribe-Infecting Virus (1600/1000) in attack mode!" Instantly, Mort let escape a shocked and desperate gasp. With only one monster on his side of the field, it would be easy for Andre to obliterate his Pumpking and directly attack the heck out of him. "Now I know that you must be worried about this super powerful and rare card that I just summoned, so I'm not gonna win this turn and give you a fighting, sporting chance to bring yourself back- not that it matters. But I WILL be starting by activating my aqua card's effect. By discarding this Scapegoat from my hand, I can destroy all monsters of a chosen type on the field. This time, it'll be spellcaster!" As soon as Andre finished his sentence, two green clouds of mist shrouded his Maha Vailo and Witch of the Black Forest, since they're both spellcasters, and destroyed them.

"What was the point in THAT?" Mort protested his opponent's seemingly stupid move.

"Stay with the program. A monster of mine has just been sent from the field to the graveyard which means that I can activate my Michizure trap card! It'll send your Pumpking right to the... compost pile? ...(Whatever). And don't forget about my Witch of the Black Forest's effect. When she's sent from the field to graveyard, regardless of how, I get to take a monster with 1500 or fewer defense points into my hand!"

_And I bet that I know which monster he's choosing._ I thought to myself.

"And, leaving my Mask of Darkness in defense mode, I attack your life points directly with Tribe Infecting Virus!" Andre said. The green gas quickly made its way over there and drained the life points right out of him. The scores were now almost tied. Andre had 2200 still and Mort had 2350.

Mort drew a card and shrugged his shoulders in a rather defeated manner. He set a monster in defense, one card face down and ended his turn- his hand completely empty.

Andre drew a card and made his next move, "It's time for a guest appearance by one of the strongest monsters in my deck," Andre began._Yup, I was right..._ I thought to myself as I prepared to see his fiend card's ultimate attack. I always looked forward to this part in Andre's duels. "By sacrificing my Tribe Infecting Virus, I summon my Great Maju Garzett (/0)! But don't let those zero attack points fool you. His attack strength is DOUBLE that of the monster I tributed to summon him with!" Andre said. His ferocious fiend sprouted from the ground this time in a violent explosion of dirt and rocks, releasing a thunderous roar.

Mort looked pretty unshaken, "It's a shame that you'll never be able to use him..." Andre activated the trap card Trap Hole- the most basic and practical of all the trap cards out there! Mort smirked as a gaping hole cracked underneath the powerful fiend card and engulfed it, destroyed it. And in that instant, a feeling of immense doom and disappointment overcame me. Would it be just me in the final four duelists? Would Andre not get his chance to beat that rare hunter guy? After the hole closed up, Andre ended his turn.

Mort drew a card and summoned it, "It's time for Double Coston (1700/1650)! And to top it all off, I'm flipping over my face down Castle of Dark Illusions! Once it's flipped, all zombies get a 200 point attack AND defense boost. And plus, all zombies, even if they're summoned later, will get 200 more attack and defense points for my next four standby phases!" Mort paused for a second to give Andre a chance to let all this sink in. I had to admit, it seemed pretty grim.

"Now attack his Mask of Darkness, my duo of death!" Mort commanded his Double Coston. Upon receiving the command, the flew like two heat seeking missles- slightly bobbing up and down and swaying across the other's path until colliding with Andre's defending mask. Then they rematerialized on Mort's side of the field giggling in a stereo evil sprite tone.

Andre appeared to have one last shot at turning this around. He drew a card, set it, and then summoned Gagagigo (1850/1000) in attack mode. That was an apparently obvious strategy: when Mort would attack, Andre would activate one of his face down cards... I never knew him to resort to such basics tactics. Andre ended his turn.

Mort was a bit confused. He saw what his opponent had done and drew his next card. It was his standby phase, which meant that Double Coston's stats rose to (2100/2050). "And now I play the equip spell card Premature Burial. At the payment of 800 life points, I bring back a monster from my graveyard and equip him with this," Mort's life points went down to 1550. "It's time once again for one of the most powerful zombies out there! Despair from the Dark! Come back from the grave!" The monster zone to the left of Double Coston began to glow a deep crimson. And little white sparkles would occassionally emerge from the cracking ground. And then in an instant, the zombie monster spouted up from beneath the surface in a frighteningly cloudy mess. "Double Coston, attack his... Gagagigo? Did I pronounce that right?" The swirling ghosts sped toward the reptile and all seemed hopeless, once again, but Andre had a plan; he wasn't going down without a fight, "Now it's time for MetalMorph! When it's activated, my monster gets a 300 attack and defense boost, making it 50 points stronger than your zombie monster!" A sleek metal coat slid all around Gagagigo's body and conformed to his shape. The two approaching ghosts looked all panicked now but couldn't stop their assault. Gagagigo slashed at them both with his mechanized spikes and destroyed them. Mort's life points trickled down to 1500.

"Grr, whatever! Despair from the Dark! Vaporize his puny Gagagigo! Proove to him that zombies are the greatest!" Instead of the inverted jack o' lantern attack like before, this time the zombie monster slashed his claw downward like a bear. Four giant purple arcs sped their way to Andre's reptile. And each of them cut right through it and destroyed him. The scores were 1500: Mort to 1550: Andre, and it was now Andre's turn.

He had one card face down on the field already. But I figured that if it was any use, he would have activated it by now. He had no cards in his hand except for this last one that he was about to draw. He slid it off the top of his deck and tried to calmly look at it. Then he slammed his platform with a clenched fist, bowed his head down a little and whispered, although I don't think he knows I heard him, "Holy crap, I'll**never** have this kind of luck again!" He set the card face down and ended his turn.

Mort must have taken that slam on the platform the wrong way- as if he had drawn a completely useless card. Mort drew his card. And Despair from the Dark's stats rose to (3000/3200) during the standby phase. Then Mort activated the equip spell card Violet Crystal. His zombie became even more powerful: (3300/3500). "It has been an entertaining duel indeed. But now I shall claim this victory..." Mort stated.

Andre looked Mort square in the eye, almost daring him to attack. For a split second, Mort was reconsidering what he should do. But, with victory seeming so close, he then made up his mind, "Despair from the Dark!" Mort sharply pointed at Andre, "Attack his life points NOW!"

Despair from the Dark held his claws out in front of him exactly how it shows on the card. But he extended his fingers and clenched his teeth in a wicked smile. Charges of purple and black electricity fizzled around his fingers. From the ground and sky, random bolts of lightning charged this monster up for its ultimate attack. Then the charging stopped. The zombie monster whipped his hands up and diagonally away, but the ten charges remained where they were until he stopped moving. Then they each exploded forth with their energy- one at a time but within the same second. It was so cool to hear and watch. The dark bolts of lightning sparked and zig-zagged their way to Andre. And just before they hit him, Andre interjected, "It's over! Activate Magic Cylinder! This negates your monster's attacks and sends it DIRECTLY back to you!" Two tubes appeared right in front of the oncoming attack. It all funneled through one, teleported to the other and exploded out in the opposite direction straight toward Mort.

"AH, NO! I was so close! There's no way, how could I lose?" The bolts of lightning struck Mort full force and dished out 1800 points of overkill; Andre had won the duel- but NOT with his Great Maju Garzett!

After the duel, the two met in front of Linda, "Duelist #25, for finishing in the top 8 of the Gree Island/Peninsula Tournament, I award you $500. And you, duelist #32, may now choose ONE card from your opponent's deck."

Andre carelessly yanked the first rare card he saw, which turned out to be a trap card called Barrel Behind the Door, pretty cool.

But in a few minutes, Jon and I would be dueling. Now we'll settle once and for all who is the better fiend duelist. I could hardly wait.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:Even though the rest of the story is planned out, I still need one more deck idea for the absolute final duel. I don't want any staller, burner, or deck/hand destruction decks. And it would be a good idea to suggest decks of a certain attribute or type, other than fiend. You don't have to give me an entire list of 40+ cards if you don't want to, just a few words so I know what you're talking about. I swear this whole story is almost over! Four more chapters, tops! If you've read this much so far, you may as well finish it up. And I promise that I won't end it stupidly like making this whole tournament a dream or something!


	23. Tournament Stories part 23

Tournament Stories part 23

It was time... Jon and I had approached each other right in front of Linda who could practically see the tension stretched between my long time rival and me. But before anything happened, she interrupted, "Okay, guys," we all looked at each other. And it was indeed just four guys left: Andre, Jon, Josh and myself... "Your not going to like this final twist... for the duels from here on out, you're going to have to obey the latest Forbidden Cards rules. We did not choose to enforce them earlier because too many people rely on such cards to help them win. But since you are the final four, the host wants to see your true colors without the help of such cards. So here you all are..." she paused every time she handed out a paper, "Use these lists... to remove or limit the cards as so... because we are following the limited and semi-limited restrictions... as well. Use the next few minutes to make the necessary changes. Duelists #1 and #16, tell me when you are ready."

So I looked at the list and took comfort in the fact that I haven't even heard of most of these cards: "Confiscation?" "Mirage of Nightmare?" "Delinquent Duo?" Anyway, I first looked at the Forbidden list. Those are the cards that no duel is allowed to have ANY in both the main deck and side deck. (But since these duels don't happen in sets of three, side decks are rather useless here.) The cards that I had to remove from my deck were: Change of Heart, Monster Reborn, Painful Choice and Witch of the Black Forest- CRAP! As for the limited and semi-limited cards, I didn't have to worry about them. But I couldn't believe that I had to take out my Painful Choice and Witch of the Black Forest. Are there seriously that many powerful cards with 1500 defense points or fewer? That pissed me off...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In response to the anonymous review that said that you can't normal summon Andro Sphinx: you can. Read the card's effect. What you can't do is special summon it from the graveyard or attack with it in the same turn that it is normal summoned or special summoned.

Also, thanks to the real Andre for explaining to me the differences between the rarities of the cards! Now returning to the story...

So I took those four cards out of my deck and put my Skull-Mark Ladybug, plus three others, back in. As I looked through my deck, I noticed that there were quite a few cards that I hadn't played yet. (Let's face it: using the big guns earlier in the story would have made their appearances in this duel less shocking and heroic, right?) So I was ready a few seconds before Jon. He was mumbling angrily to himself, probably because he had so many cards on the ground. I noticed a Dark Hole, a Change of Heart and a Pot of Greed but that was it. He did his best to balance out the hole and said after heaving a sigh of air, "I'm ready now."

"Good, good! And now, you two get to pick from these four cards. As your reward for making it to the top 4 in this tournament, you are entitled to one card with at LEAST 3000 attack points!" Linda proudly announced. The four of us, even Josh, went, "Whoa..." as I mentally drooled.

I took a card after Jon, tore it open and was happy to see the numbers (3500/3000) at the bottom. It was called Ultimate Obedient Fiend! It was a fiend card, and the most powerful fiend (attack point wise) I had ever seen! But it's effect was piss poor which was why it never went into my deck: It can only attack if there are NO other cards on my side of the field and if I have NO hand... seriously, how often does that happen? So even though it's possible that I could just summon it and just leave it there as a solid wall between me and my life points, I decided to stick with cards that I'd actually use...

Jon was pretty annoyed with his card also, "What? A fusion monster? I don't have the monsters for THIS thing! Dammit, and it's so powerful, too!" We ended up not putting the cards into our decks...

"Okay... the Forbidden Card lists have been distributed, you got your prizes for being in the top 4... we're set! Shuffle each others' decks, and let's go!" Linda sounded unusually cheerful and she looked at me more often than at Jon as we shuffled the decks. _I wonder why she is so interested in my Black Skull Dragon?_ I thought to myself. _It's not like it's all that rare anymore. And it's so old that there are many cards that can easily vanquish it... Maybe the rare hunters need 40 of em and they only have 39?_ I stopped thinking and took my deck back. Linda was already in her platform ready to witness what was about to be a pretty cool duel.

We rose up in our own platforms. I, of course, picked the blue one. And Jon went first.

"First up, I activate the field magic card Yami. It gives our fiends and spellcasters a 200 points attack and defense boost. Also, it decreases fairies' power by that much but whatever. And I'm summoning Malice Doll of Demise (1800/1900) in attack mode followed by one card face down. Go," Jon was already plotting. There was a trap ready to get me. There was the first fiend which will eventually fuel his Dark Necrofear. I just hope to get mine out there before he does...

My first six cards were: Soul Exchange, Giant Germ, Soul Tiger, Offerings to the Doomed, Big Eye and Gagagigo. "I'm setting one card face down and summoning Gagagigo (1850/1000) in attack mode! Attack his fiend card!" I commanded my reptile. He slithered forward. The darkness of Jon's field card made him appear even more stealthy as he took a violent slash at the doll. He destroyed it and Jon's life points went down to 7950- a small start. But then MY life points went down to 7300. "I activate the trap card Attack and Receive. I'm sure you know that when I take damage and activate this card, you receive 700, right?" Jon really didn't need to explain. That card is from the Pharaoh's Servant booster pack. I think everyone's seen it. "My turn," Jon drew a card. "Ahh... HERE we go! I'm summoning The Bistro Butcher (2000/1200) in attack mode. And next I'm equipping him with my NEW favorite equip card, Axe of Despair! It raises his attack by 1000 points!" So now Jon had a monster with 3000 attack points on the field. Since he had activated an equip spell card, I definitely could have activated my Offerings to the Doomed and made Jon feel pretty stupid. But I knew about The Bistro Butcher's effect and wanted to draw two cards. "Attack his puny reptile, my powerful fiend!" So I let his monster make minced meat, literally, out of my reptile. My life points went down to 6150, but at least I got to draw two cards out of it. The cards were Skull-Mark Ladybug and Black Pendant. Plus, I drew my Spirit Barrier card that saved my butt in my duel against Larry.

"I'm setting one monster in defense mode and setting one card face down. It's your move again," I informed Jon. He happily drew his next card. "I activate the magic card Dragged Down into the Grave. You and I look at each other's hands and tell the other which card to discard to the graveyard. Then we each draw one card," Jon was in full torture mode. He always tries to screw his opponent over. "That's fine by me, Jon, but I'm activating this in response to your spell card, Offerings to the Doomed. At the cost of my next draw phase, I get to destroy one face up monster. So it's obviously gonna be your Bistro Butcher." I smiled an antagonistically friendly smile as he frowned and took the two cards and slapped them into the graveyard. And then his magic card took effect. Jon saw the cards in my hand and told me to get rid of my Soul Exchange. His hand only consisted of Summoned Skull and Soul Reversal. I made him ditch the fiend card. And then we got to draw a card, which compensated for my loss of my next draw phase. And when I drew it, my mood improved by 3100. I had drawn one of the rarest cards of them all: Invader of Darkness. It was a shame that Jon had just made me get rid of my Soul Exchange. I could have had an early win. But it was still Jon's turn anyway. And he was lucky to have drawn a monster which he set in defense mode. And he also set his Soul Reversal.

I couldn't draw, not that the solid clear plastic bubble around it would let me anyway. It was funny how it just appeared there. But I got an idea with my Big Eye. Since he's a fiend, he'll get a 200 point boost. And the Black Pendant gives any monster a 500 point boost... I put my plan into action. "And now I'm summoning my Big Eye (1400/1200) in attack mode. And then I'm equipping him with the Black Pendant which raises his attack to 1900! Attack his face down monster!" All of his eyes closed and then opened at the same time all unleashing steams of blue light, since his eyes were blue... it made sense. But the attack failed because the defending monster was Wall of Illusion (1200/2050). So not only did Big Eye get returned to my hand, but I lost 150 life points, sinking my total to an exact 6000. But John's went down to 7450, and that made me feel slightly better. But I was going to leave nothing to chance. I used this opportunity, "Since I have just received damage to my life points, I can activate a quick play spell or trap card. So I'm activating my Spirit Barrier. As long as I have a monster on the field, I receive NO battle damage!" I smiled. Jon again frowned and even yelled, "That's not fair!"

"Well keep in mind," I reminded him, "It's only effective when I have a monster on the field, right? So once you destroy my defending monster, I'll be wide open cuz it's your turn now..." I had a plan.

"I know I know!" Jon acted as if I was trying to insult his intelligence. He always did act like a know it all... He drew a card and set it in defense mode.

I guess even the toughest of duels have their slow spots...

The next card I drew was Rafflesia Seduction. I set my Skull-Mark Ladybug instead because I was a bit behind on life points.

Then the duel finally picked up with Jon's next draw, "HA! I've drawn it!" Jon laughed.

"The Dark Necrofear?" It was too early for me, and so I prepared for the worst.

"No, but he'll screw you over; I summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (2000/900)! Whenever he inflicts battle damage to you, I get to remove two cards in your graveyard from play. Also, as long as he's face up on the field, YOU _CAN'T_ remove monsters in either graveyard from play, so even if you draw **your** Dark Necrofear, it won't help you! And now he attacks the first monster you set!" Kycoo used his beads as a boomerang: he swung them around his head for force and let it go towards my hidden Giant Germ (1200/300).

"Ha, when he's sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, you lose 500 life points and I get to special summon my other Giant Germs in my deck. Then I shuffle it!" So Jon's life points decreased to 6950, I summoned my other Giant Germ (1200/300) from my deck and shuffled it. Jon wasn't too happy about that. My skill had definitely improved since our duel in those virtual pods and even more so since the school tournament. "But you'll never inflict battle damage on me as long as I have a monster on the field!" I answered him back as he could do nothing more. He ended his turn.

Now would have been a perfect opportunity to tribute my two monsters and get my Invader of Darkness onto the field. But I didn't want to risk him using a kamikaze Necrofear move next turn, now that he had three fiends in his graveyard. I wanted an extra monster on my side of the field, just to be safe. So I drew Opticlops but set the Rafflesia Seduction I drew before. I left my second Giant Germ in attack mode just to antagonize him. Even if he destroys it, HE'D get damaged, not me! I really love that Spirit Barrier card!

Jon became angry, as always, and drew his next card, "And now I tribute my face down Dark Mimic LV1 (300/1200) to summon Patrician of Darkness (2000/1400). My Dark mimic LV1 has a flip effect. When he's flipped, I get to draw one card from my," and so he did. He looked at it in disappointment but probably figured it would later be useful, so he set it face down. While he's on the field, I choose the target of your attacks. And, speaking of which, Kycoo attack his center card!" Kycoo's lame bead boomerang attack pulverized my defending Skull-Mark Ladybug (500/1500). And, as its effect says, my life points went up to 7000. Jon didn't like that... he doesn't like anything.

"And now my Patrician of Darkness attacks your other face down monster!" His zombie monster blinked his black eyes and unfurled his cape. From behind it, an entire horde of bats screeched to my side of the field and destroyed my defending Rafflesia Seduction (300/900). Then he ended his turn.

I needed to hold him off somehow. I knew that it wouldn't be long before he'd summon another powerful monster, so I had to protect my life points, or at least my last monster on the field. I drew the Magician of Faith and set her in defense- hoping that something would go my way more than a chinsey 500 life point hit.

Jon wouldn't back down, "Ha ha ha ha! I tribute my Wall of Illusion to summon The Earl of Demise (2200/900)! He attacks your face down monster! And there went my Magician of Faith (300/400), with whose effect I brought my Soul Exchange back from the graveyard. Then Kycoo destroyed my Giant Germ. Sure, he lost 500 life points (again) bringing his total down to 6450. But I lost 2000 life points because of the attack from his Patrician of Darkness. My life points plummeted to 5000.

At my next turn, a miracle happened. I drew Mask of the Accursed. Immediately I activated it, "Jon! I'm equipping YOUR Earl of Demise with Mask of the Accursed. Now it can't attack, and you take 500 life points damage for every one of my standby phases!" I activated the card, and a huge mask took form onto the field. It seemed to be magnetized to the fiend's face. Then it shocked the monster with red and blue electricity until it could barely stand. Then I set my Soul Tiger and ended my turn.

"Stop hiding! Fight me like a man!" He taunted as he drew a card but held onto it. "Kycoo! Attack his defense monster!" This time, the boomerang of beads failed to destroy my defending Soul Tiger (0/2100) and the necklace split apart, some of them hitting Jon's platform. He lost 100 life points. "Ugh, whatever- your move," Jon grunted.

As soon as my turn began, I became happy. Not only did I draw Ominous Fortunetelling, which I set, and not only did Jon lose 500 life points because of my mask card- bringing his life points down to 5850- but I was now able to _finally_ summon my Invader of Darkness!

"Jon..." I said in an almost cryptic tone, "Are you ready to witness the power of a fiend greater than the Dark Necrofear's?" I asked him. He didn't feel like answering, so I just grabbed the only magic card in my hand, "I activate Soul Exchange on your Patrician of Darkness. Also, I tribute my Soul Tiger in order to summon one of the darkest fiends of them all, the Invader of Darkness!" I proudly announced the name of one of my most prized fiends. It's a secret rare card. And when I slapped that card onto my platform, the dark arena of the Yami card grew even darker. The lazy hum of my Spirit Barrier went quiet. And even the real life wind seemed to stop for a second as the tributed orbs of the Soul Tiger and the Patrician of Darkness hovered close together in the air. Then one lightened and one darkened, they made distance between them and then collided at high speed in the middle of the field. White and black branches of electricity tore through the air. Each half of it seemed unwilling to back down from the other until they just seemed to smoothly fuse together. The black half wrapped around the white one, now turning gold, in the form of a lengthy, ominous cape. The gold one morphed very jagged and took on the form of one of the most evil fiends you will ever see. When he stopped sparking, he was lowered onto my center monster zone. "Say hello to the Invader of Darkness (3100/2700)," I said. The field lightened back to the condition of the current field card as I continued, "But since I used Soul Exchange to help summon him, I must skip my battle phase. You're lucky," I made it perfectly clear how much destruction this fiend was capable of. I doubt that even Jon has heard of this guy before; it's SO rare! "And by the way," I added more bad news, "as long as he's on the field you CAN'T activate quick-play spell cards!" Jon, obviously, wasn't too happy about that. "Your move," I ended my turn.

I really hoped that he would not draw the Dark Necrofear because that would just suck. Luckily he didn't. He just set one card face down, switched both of his monsters to defense and ended his turn.

My go. I drew one of the cards that I put in as a result of taking those four out, Mine Golem. Then it was my Standby Phase. Thanks to my Mask of the Accursed, Jon's life points decreased to 5350. But I didn't know what to do with my hand. I still had my Big Eye and Opticlops and now I had Mine Golem. Playing either one would be a good choice. I decided to set my Big Eye, so I could know what the future holds. And then the fun began, "And now my Invader of Darkness attacks your spellcaster!"

I gave the command and my fiend's left fist began to glow a dark yellow. He just stood there as his body developed an entire dark yellow outline. Then this outline all conjoined into his fist. Beginning at his head, finishing at the last part of his cape, the dark yellow produced a constant stream leading directly into his left hand, clenched tight with the power inside it. Then he angled his arm with his fist against his right shoulder, and in one smooth movement, opened his palm directly at the defending spellcaster. But contrary to the energy's initial color, this attack was bright gold and moved very quickly. (If any of you have the trap card Absolute End, that's a good idea of what's happening here...) When it hit Kycoo, a sound similar to a huge balloon bursting only longer, deeper and louder resonated through the arena accompanied by a huge, mainly white explosion and random bursting spheres of gold energy all around the spellcaster. It was, for lack of a better word, obliterated.

"It looks like I've officially taken control of this duel!" I felt relieved to be practically untouchable by my rival... practically

Jon dubiously drew his next card. But his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw what it was. I even saw this from the other side of the field and instantly expected the Dark Necrofear, of course. Jon began, "It may not be the Necrofear, but it'll get rid of your Invader of Darkness! First I'm switching my Earl of Demise back into attack mode. And now I activate the magic card Dark Core! At the cost of one card from my hand, I get to remove one face up monster from play!" Jon announced to my fiend monster, mainly.

"Oh crap, that's not good," I said to myself.

"So I discard The Dark-Hex-Sealed Fusion from my hand to activate my Dark Core and remove your Invader of Darkness from play!"

The second he placed his discarded monster in the graveyard, a small black, navy and dark green ball of energy formed right above my fiend's head. Then it began to grow eventually becoming twice the size of my monster. White and blue lightning burst out of this sphere of darkness as it grew and also as it shrunk again. But the Invader of Darkness was nowhere to be seen. The dark sphere shrank out of existence leaving me one monster short. But then I activated a trap card.

"In response to your magic card, I activate my Ominous Fortuntelling that I had face down. During each of my standby phases I select one card from your hand and guess if it's magic, monster or trap. If I'm right, you'd lose 700 life points in addition to the 500 you lose because of my Mask of the Accursed," I tried to keep my grasp on this duel. But I was fully aware of how easily it had just slipped.

"Whatever. I don't even have a hand right now. But I end my turn since I can't attack with my Earl of Demise," Jon turned it over to me. I began my turn by searching through my graveyard. I was surprised to find only two fiends in my graveyard and they were both Giant Germs. It felt like I had more fiends out there... But oh well. I drew my next card. It was a spell card called Gift of the Martyr and I had never used it before. But before anything happened, Jon lost 500 more life points. His total stood at 4850. All I did that turn was set the Mine Golem I drew a few turns ago.

Jon drew a card and said, "It's time to end this series of measly 500 point hits from your annoying equip card. I tribute my Earl of Demise to summon the Beast of Talwar (2600/2350), one of my most powerful fiend cards!" When Jon said his name in such high regard, I was a little confused because I had never heard of this card before. But I'll never forget the way it introduced itself.

The dark purple orb of the tributed Earl of Demise hovered in the air, slowly bobbing up and down until Jon put his fiend card in attack mode. Instantly, the orb pushed two huge swords out of itself. The blades of the swords cut deeply into the ground and remained standing upright waiting for its owner to arrive. The orb pulsed and changed colors between dark purple, midnight blue and dark green. Then it exploded with a huge dark green shockwave as far as the holographic emitters could reach. From inside the burst orb emerged a fiend 5 shades away from pure shadow. I could only see its dark blue wings, yellow eyes, parts of its green body and the silver swords that found their own way to his hands.

"Attack the first card he set!" he commanded his fiend. The swords glowed a dark silver as he held them in front of him. Then he whisked his arms away and launched forward the silver aura that was surrounding his swords toward and destroyed my defending Big Eye (1400/1200). Its flip effect activated. And, since both Jon and I were fiend duelists, I didn't feel the need to explain his effect. Anyway, the top five cards were 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom, Master Kyonshee, Dummy Golem (another card I hadn't played yet), Poison of the Old Man and Princess of Tsurugi. Let's number them 1-5 respectively. I arranged them: 4, 5, 1, 3, 2. Then Jon ended his turn.

I drew the Poison of the Old Man and set it down. And then I took a look at the Beast of Talwar's stats again: (2600/2350). Those were, of course, augmented stats because of Yami. But they were high enough to be a problem. I got the obvious idea of using my Gift of the Martyr with my Opticlops, but that would risk him using a trap card... but what other choice did I have?

"First I'm summoning my Opticlops (2000/1900) in attack mode. Next, I activate the magic card Gift of the Martyr! All I have to do is send one monster on my side of the field to the graveyard and a different monster's on my side of the field attack points rises by that amount. So I send my face down Mine Golem (1000/1900) to increase my Opticlops's attack to 3000! A hollow white silhouette of my Mine Golem appeared over my Opticlops and an orange beam enclosed my fiend with the white silhouette as its source. A sound kind of similar to a plastic cup filling up with electrified water signified the power-up, which I found weird. Then the ghost of my rock card leaving only my souped-up Opticlops ready to do battle, "Attack his Beast of Talwar!" I ordered him. My fiend was oddly quick for his size. He was bearing his head down intending to skewer the opposing monster with his horn but that's where Jon activated a trap card, "Come on, I'm not gonna just LET you destroy one of my favorite fiends like that. I activate Mask of Weakness. It decreases your Opticlops's attack to 2300, 300 points weaker than my monster!" When he flipped over the trap, a familiar mask appeared and homed onto my fiend's face and caused the action to pause like in a video game. A reddish white light of the mask made my monster's appearance less intimidating and, when the action unpaused, his speed slower. In response to his trap, I activated my quick play magic card, "Jon! One way or another, you're losing life points! I'm activating Poison of the Old Man. I can either increase my life points by 1200 or damage yours for 800. So your life points are going down to 4050!" The old man who appeared once I flipped that card over dropped the green vile and threw purple one at Jon. All the while, Jon's Beast of Talwar was slicing my Opticlops with one of his two swords. The glass of the purple beaker shattered and the liquid inside only virtually dissolved his platform.

My life points were still at 5000 and I had no monsters on the field, with it now being Jon's turn. I was pessimistically expecting his Dark Necrofear to make an appearance now, because that would just make my day: two powerful cards with a field power bonus and me with two ineffective trap cards. I was beginning to realize just how stupid I was to use my Gift of the Martyr in such a sacrificial way...

Jon drew his next card and set it in defense mode, luckily. But he still attacked me with his monster, "Attack his life points directly!" The Beast of Talwar smiled only slightly. His dark yellow eyes didn't change a bit. In a flash of darkness, he suddenly appeared right in front of my platform and made a violent slash. My life points took a nose dive all the way down to 2400. If Jon summoned a monster next turn, I'd be finished.

I drew my Princess of Tsurugi and set her. Then I waited to see what Jon's next card would be.

He drew it and then set it down below the monster he just set. That actually plays into my princess's effect. And then he did something weird. He flipped over his defending Spear Cretin (700/700). He obviously wanted me to attack it so he could bring back another monster of his. I would also be able, but I'm sure his selection would be better. Then he finally attacked and destroyed my face down Princess of Tsurugi (900/700). Her flip effect caused Jon to lose 2000 life points: 500 for each magic and trap card on the field- that includes his field card, of course. His life points were near mine now at 2050. Jon said, "Little miniature strategies like that aren't going to win you the duel. Why don't you just attack my Spear Cretin. I flipped it over just so you could see what it was. When he's sent to the graveyard, we can both special summon a monster- what have you got to lose?" He suggested trying to sound as resentful as possible.

But I was considering attacking anyway... I drew my 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom and actually summoned it (800/1200) in attack mode. Jon was laughing at the weird choice of monster. But when you can only draw one at a time, you're not presented with very many options. And if Jon really wanted to revive a monster, he'd let me destroy his Spear Cretin. "And now my ladybug attacks your Spear Cretin!" I had never seen this thing attack before and was surprised, I guess, at the show it put on. First it used its wings to hover in the air. Then the four green stars on its back lit up and each launched one green star at the target. They spread out and then homed in like heat-seeking missiles all resulting in four tiny explosions. The fiend was laughably destroyed and now we could get one monster back from our graveyards.

Jon knew what he was doing too; thanks to his Dark Core magic card, my Invader of Darkness was removed from play, so I couldn't get him back.. In fact the strongest (attack point wise) monster I had in my graveyard at that time was my Opticlops because he could get a power boost from Yami. But anyway, Jon had already special summoned his Summoned Skull (2700/1400) that I told him to discard because of his Dragged Down into the Grave. And when I remembered what card I would draw next because of my Big Eye, I knew something had to be done so I set my Big Eye again. I wanted as many options as I could salvage.

Jon drew his next card and continued to get more powerful, "And now I equip my Beast of Talwar with the Sword of Dark Destruction. His attack rises by 400 points while his defense falls 200 points. (3000/2150) And now my Summoned Skull attacks your face down monster," said Jon. Summoned Skull's trademark lightning strike vaporized my Big Eye (1400/1200). But at least I got to use his effect again. The top five cards were Dummy Golem, Master Kyonshee, Kiseitai, Last Will and Judgment of Anubis. Once again, numbering them respectively 1-5. I ordered them: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5. Hopefully, that would give me some kind of positive result... But Jon continued his turn in the meantime, "And now my other fiend destroys your ladybug." Using his newly equipped sword, my ladybug was diced into little pieces.

It was all down to the Dummy Golem I drew. I set it in defense and ended my turn.

"Ah...HA!" Jon said after drawing his card which he set next to his sword. (How lucky it was that he kept drawing magic and trap instead of monsters!) "Looks like this duel is mine. I guess you still can't beat me, even after that fluke defeat in those pods, eh?" Jon looked at his two powerful fiends and commanded his Beast of Talwar, "Attack his final monster!" That sword slash seemed to go by in slow motion probably because I saw my last acts of desperation disappear. Then Jon saw that the card he destroyed was my Dummy Golem (800/800). "Ha, yes! You're not gonna like this! That guy has a flip effect. Once it's activated, you choose one of your monsters to switch places with him! But here's the thing. Even though his flip effect was activated, you destroyed him which means you get no monster in return, get it? It's perfectly fair!" I was smiling as Jon glared at me, "Shut up. Here, have the Summoned Skull." It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders as soon as I saw that fiend on my side of the field. And THEN I drew my Kiseitai! I set him and let Jon take it from there.

He drew his next card and stood there expressionless for a second. Now, his expressionless face looks more like he's slightly agitated about something. So it would take someone who's been around him long enough to know that his face was expressionless. Andre thought that, judging by his face, Jon drew a bad card as could be told by the laugh he made: y'know, the little laugh that you do when you know you have the upper hand and you just have to admire your opponent's will to continue...? Well anyway, I'm going somewhere with this, Jon heard this, looked up from his card and thought that I was the one who had laughed. He said, "You won't be laughing after I do this!" As mighty as that bellow sounded, I wasn't the one who laughed, so Jon just made himself look like an idiot in front of 5 other people... it could have been worse...

"It's time..." Jon removed three cards from his graveyard from play. The monsters he chose: Spear Cretin, Wall of Illusion and Earl of Demise all shrank into three dark purple spheres. "I remove three fiend cards in my graveyard from play to special summon...!" He paused for a quick second to build up the obvious suspense, "Dark Necrofear!" He slapped the card on his platform and instantly the three orbs went into a frenzy. They zipped everywhere almost randomly, but you could tell that they were slowly converging onto one spot. As soon as they joined, they made one big sphere and turned black. The already dark field went even darker as the sphere grew taller. It stopped and then just stood there for a second. Then it slowly began to crack. Now that was the coolest part... Imagine a black egg hatching with bright white cracks spreading across it. The black oval shaped capsule was being covered with these bright white cracks and splits, spilling white light out of it wherever the crack was big enough. Then you could see a white ring form around the cracked capsule. As soon as it stopped cracking, the ring quickly reduced its size and shattered the already damaged capsule to pieces. Black shards of whatever that was flew everywhere. And beneath that layer was the Dark Necrofear. At his he appeared all white, glistening like a very tall angel without wings and a few mechanized body parts. But then he became very dark very quickly. Soon, the only white that could be seen was the mere outline of his body. It made him look more shrouded and mysterious than he was... But the most mysterious part was by far the broken doll he... or she?... was carrying. Damaged as it was, it almost seemed soothed to be in the Necrofear's arms...

"Give another warm welcome to the Dark Necrofear (2400/3000)!" Jon said as the field went back to Yami darkness. "And now, next turn, I'm going to take you out of this tournament. Dark Necrofear- attack Summoned Skull!"

Dark Necrofear frowned and smiled, but mostly frowned, at the same time. Even though its attack points were lower than the Summoned Skull's it had to obey its master. This is what most people do with their Dark Necrofears: summon them so they can be destroyed, but get control of an enemy monster at the end of the turn. But unlike the last time Dark Necrofear attacked, it simply positioned its left arms so that the green gem on its arm shield was facing my fiend. Then it sacrificed all of its white outline, making it less fearsome, to power up the green stone. Then a surprisingly huge beam of power erupted from this tiny armband. It looked devastating, but the Summoned Skull kept his ground. While it was still being assaulted, Summoned Skull launched its counter attack using the green beam as a channel. He sent a generous bolt of electricity right toward the Dark Necrofear and destroyed it, Jon's life points decreased to 1750. Mine were at 2400. That's a 650 difference...

"Oh dear! My Dark Necrofear's a goner! Whoops..." Jon tried to sound as surprised as he could without making his voice crack. But then he said, "Beast of Talwar, attack his face down monster!" I couldn't have been happier. As soon as his final fiend attacked my hidden Kiseitai (500/1000), he slithered up his sword and anchored himself into Beast of Talwar's back, as an equip magic card, as his effect says.

"Now, during every one of your standby phases, my life points will increase by half of your monster's attack points- that's 1500 life points!" I smiled as I prepared to reveal another secret indirectly hidden up my sleeve...

"It doesn't matter because NOW I'm ending my turn and using my dark Necrofear's effect to take control of the Summoned Skull!" Jon forcefully said as he extended his fingers out at the only monster I had on my side of the field.

"It's not gonna happen," I said. Jon noticed that, even though his turn was over, my Summoned Skull remained on my side of the field.

"What the heck is going on? I ended my turn, so now I should get to control one of your monsters because my Dark Necrofear was destroyed!" Jon complained.

Finally figuring that he couldn't figure it out I explained, "Your Dark Necrofear needs a space on your trap/spell zone in order to control another monster. Your zones are all filled up, with your four face down cards and your Sword of Dark Destruction. So you lost a few life points AND a powerful monster for nothing... weren't you keeping track of what you were doing?" I was actually surprised that a fiend duelist such as him forgot about one of the most power fiend's effect. I'll bet Jon was mentally kicking himself right then. But it wasn't over yet. After all, Jon had FOUR face _down_ cards. It's not like I could have attacked anyway, but I would definitely think again if I could have attacked.

But anyway, I drew my Master Kyonshee and set him in defense to keep my Spirit Barrier's effect strong. I then ended my turn.

Jon drew his next card and resented the sound of my life points going up, quite a bit, to 3900. He set the monster that he drew and destroyed his Summoned Skull with his Beast of Talwar. My life points were fine but my monster count was not. I had just a face down Master Kyonshee and my Last Will was the next card I drew.

I was desperate, so I activated my Last Will and then attacked his Beast of Talwar with a small amount of comfort. After all, I wasn't going to take any damage, and I could special summon a monster after he's gone, so it'd all be good. But Jon had to activate a trap.

"I activate Shift. It lets me change the target of one of your attacks or the effect of a magic or trap card activated by you. So instead of my fiend, you're attacking my face down monster!" Panic-stricken, I watched Master Kyonshee's (1750/1000) path sway to the right of his fiend and strike his face down Mystic Tomato (1400/1100). I was angry that I didn't get to use the effect of my Last Will.

"And now that my tomato's been sent to the graveyard because of a battle, I can special summon one dark monster from my deck to the field in face up attack with 1500ATK points or fewer. I'm choosing my Skull Knight #2 (1200/1400)." I watched his tomato morph into another fiend card as I dejectedly put my Last Will into my graveyard and ended my turn.

Jon drew his next card and waited for my life points to finish increasing to 5400. Then he attacked and destroyed my Master Kyonshee with his Beast of Talwar who I'm sure thought it was a waste of his 3000 attack points. If ONLY I could have used my Last Will card the way I wanted to! Then he reduced my life points to 4200 by a direct attack from his Skull Knight #2.

Things were looking grim because my next card was the Judgment of Anubis that I had won my last duel with. It was useless at it was now, but I set it anyway.

Jon drew a card and kept it in his hand. He smirked as my life points climbed up to 5700. Then after two direct attacks totaling 4200, my life points were at an ironic 1500. I was relieved and yet at the same time annoyed when I drew my Spear Cretin. For whatever monster I would bring back, he'd bring back something better like his Summoned Skull or Necrofear. But I reasoned that a monster is better than no monster at all. But before I did anything, I remembered that it was my Standby Phase, and I had activated my Ominous Fortuntelling a LONG time ago. This was the first time I used it this whole duel... So I announced that I was activating its effect and guessed that it was a magic card. Angrily, he admitted that it was, so he lost 700 life points

He had 1050, I had 1500. I set my Spear Cretin face down and ended my turn.

Jon began his turn with a cautious smile. He's seen me duel enough times in this tournament to know that when I set a monster, it must have an effect; I typically don't use defense. My life points rose to an even 3000 after he drew his card and was almost disappointed with the outcome, "I summon Theban Nightmare (1700/700) in attack mode! ...Um... Attack his defending monster,... Beast of Talwar!" He tried to sound as decisive as possible while he made up his mind about which of his fiends should take his chances with my hidden monster.

"You've flipped and destroyed my Spear Cretin (700/700)! I think you know what to do!" I commented as we both searched our generously filled graveyards for options. He brought back his Summoned Skull (2700/1400) while I was still fingering through my fallen attack force. But then I saw it- how I could win the duel! I grabbed my Princess of Tsurugi and set her in face down defense, like the Spear Cretin allows.

And now it was still Jon's battle phase... one monster stood between him and victory, it seemed. I could see the frantic fire in his eyes. When you're used to someone's dueling technique, you become less surprised, but more scared. Now that you know what COULD be coming, you're afraid of what IS. Every second that went by, time seemed to slow down. It didn't take Jon that long to decide in reality, but it was all the anticipation and tension and excitement that caused for the suspenseful atmosphere. One way or another, he was going to lose, he just didn't know it yet! One way or another, one way or another...

Jon attacked my face down Princess of Tsurugi (900/700) with his Theban Nightmare. As soon as he saw was it was, he slammed his platform with his fist and growled out loud to himself. The princess created an ice crystal. Five 500LP's in blue boxes rushed into the ice crystal right before she launched it at Jon. He just stood there as the shards of shattered ice ricocheted everywhere, taking down his life points to zero. It wasn't a very nice win, or a very strategic one. But a win's a win, right? We quietly collected our cards and gathered in front of Linda where she handed Jon an envelope marked G I/P T with $1000 inside instead of $500.

"But I thought I was only supposed to get $500," Jon said- not that he was complaining.

Linda replied, "Yeah, well, it turns out that the host of this tournament figured that a monster with at least 3000 attack points might not be the kind of thing you guys want since some of them are really hard to summon or use correctly, so he threw in an extra $500 for everyone. But anyway. Duelist #1, select ONE card from duelist #16's deck."

Jon looked at me a bit resentfully, but not as harshly as he did in the past. Perhaps this defeat was just what he and I both needed. And now that I was taking a card from his deck, I could even the score. But I was nice and didn't want to screw his deck completely. And I knew that I didn't want his Beast of Talwar anyway, so I decided on his Dark Core magic card. It's useful enough. He said to me, "...Congratulations and don't lose, jerk."

Andre caught up with me and asked to see the card I just took. Then he gave the card back and looked up at Josh who was watching Jon walk by him towards the exit. This next duel would prove to be interesting. And one of us was going to win and then get the chance to duel the host! But there were still two more normal duels left...


	24. Tournament Stories part 24

Tournament Stories part 24

And so Andre was up. Right after I defeated Jon, Andre was to duel that rare hunter Josh. And if he were to win he would be dueling me in the next round. But we'd see who my next opponent is soon enough.

Linda gave Andre and Josh the last two cards with at least 3000 attack points. I looked at what Andre received and wasn't surprised to find that it was about as strong and also about as useless as the Ultimate Obedient Fiend that I had received. It was Theinen the Great Sphinx (3500/3000). He's a beast of light who can, basically, NOT be summoned. He can't be normal summoned or even set. In fact, he can only be special summoned by paying 500LP after Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are destroyed at the SAME TIME? Ever since Raigeki has been made into a forbidden card, I doubt that it will happen too often... The odds of that are less probable than having no cards in your hand and magic/trap zone- therefore allowing the Ultimate Obedient Fiend to attack. Josh was equally disappointed with his card and looked at Linda after he was done being disgusted.

"Ready, then?" she suggested as she made a motion for them to switch decks for shuffling. As they were shuffling each others' decks, I realized that as this duel would be going on, I would be all alone with nobody else around to watch it with me. So I took out my deck and began to modify it. My next duel would be against the winner of this duel. And either one, Andre or Josh, wouldn't be playing around- so I had to make sure that I had no extraneous cards in my deck...

Josh and Andre rose up in their platforms. They each drew five cards and Josh spoke, "I always let the hunted go first."

Andre drew his sixth card. I backed from the arena so I could see both duelists' faces clearly. I didn't care about trying to see Andre's hand- I would find out what cards are in it soon enough...

But first, Andre set one monster in defense and set FOUR cards face down. His hand was already down to one? Either Andre was trying to bluff (which he seldom does) or he's got a rock solid wall of defense already lined up.

Josh drew his sixth card and looked darkly at the cards he set face down, "I wonder as to which trap you're going to activate first?" Josh said as he set only two cards face down. "And I think I shall begin things by summoning... Harpie's Brother (1800/600) in attack mode," Josh silently slipped his card onto the field, but then Andre aggressively activated a face down card, "No, I'm activating Bottomless Trap Hole! Your monster is a goner!" Andre boasted his trap card of normal rarity. But then Josh also activated a card of normal rarity, "Well then, I think that I shall return this favor; I'm now activating Michizure which destroys YOUR monster as well."

Andre flipped over another trap, "I don't think so. Now I'm activating Seven Tools of the Bandit which negates and destroys that card at the cost of 1000 of my life points," Andre seemed to have control of this duel!

"You would rather pointlessly lose 1000 life points than let that monster be destroyed when you could simply summon another on your next turn? That is poor judgment, I'd say," Josh had somewhat of a point there; with no monsters on the field, Josh wasn't too much of a threat. He may have activated his counter trap card a bit too early. But now it was Andre's turn again. Maybe he wanted to summon a high level monster?

Andre drew his next card and said, "I'm summoning Gagagigo (1850/1000)," definitely NOT a high-level monster, "in attack mode!"  
"Very well..." Josh silently interrupted.

"Attack his life points directly!" Andre commanded. This reptile which we've all seen a lot of slithered forward and sliced through Josh's platform, taking his life points down to 6150. Andre had 7000.

Josh began his next turn. He drew a card, set it in defense and activated a magic card, "Perhaps you are not going to like this, but I activate the card Creature Swap! We each now must select one monster on our side of the field and switch the control of it to our opponent for as long as it's on the field. And the monsters' battle positions cannot be changed this turn. So here, have my face down Prevent Rat, and what do I get in return?" Josh gave Andre a tough choice. It was obvious in that his face twisted into a pondering expression.

"You're getting... my Gagagigo," Andre made his decision and watched him hover away to Josh's side of the field.

"Perfect," Josh commented as he examined his hand and looked content, "And now your Gagagigo attacks the first monster you set," Josh watched Andre's monster rush toward the first card Andre had set in an almost hypnotized trance. The reptile slashed at it and revealed a Man-Eater Bug (450/600). Obviously, Andre chose to destroy his own Gagagigo, but once again Josh had no monsters and that one face down card.

It was Andre's turn again. He drew a card and set it below the face down Prevent Rat (500/2000) he had received from Josh. He decided to keep it face down defense and ended his turn there.

Josh drew his next card and instantly activated it, "I'm now activating the magic card Nobleman of Crossout. I get to destroy and remove from play one face down monster. And if it has a flip effect, we must go through our decks and remove all cards with the same name from play. But since I know already that I'm using this on my Prevent Rat, there is apparently no need to-" Josh was cut off by Andre activating his newly set trap card, "No! I'm activating Magic Jammer! At the cost of one card from my hand," and Andre discarded his hand's final card, "I can negate and destroy that magic card!" Andre had another spot-on defense lined up. Although, that one had more to do with luck in my opinion.

"My my, SO reckless! That's another card you've activated with such a tremendous cost!" Josh set a monster in defense and ended his turn, "You better hope this next card you draw is a monster!" Josh warned. He kept his evil composure all the while.

Andre drew his next card and heaved a breath of relief. It was like he had drawn the fifth part of Exodia or something; he was SO happy, "I'm activating Pot of Greed! It lets me draw two cards from my deck!" Andre was just about to touch the top card of his deck when Josh replied, "That is where you are mistaken. I'm activating my face-down Mystical Space Typhoon. It destroys your Pot of Greed, so you're _still_ out of a hand!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I want to thank the reviewer publicly who brought to my attention the error that I made in my story about two chapters ago. I thought that Mystical Space Typhoon was only effective against magic cards. He told me my mistake and was really embarrassed because I actually own the card. I suppose the reason why I didn't know is because I have never used it in a duel. But yes, Mystical Space Typhoon works against both magic and trap cards. Now back to the story...

Andre was shocked. He still had that face down Prevent Rat and those two face down cards. But for how long would this defense last?

My question was answered on Josh's next turn. After he drew a card, which he immediately set, Josh flipped over his own hidden Man-Eater Bug (450/600). And he picked the only other monster on the field to be destroyed. Suddenly, Andre's field was bare and Josh looked, unforgivingly, across the field at Andre. Josh set another monster in defense and ended his turn.

Andre drew a card and sarcastically waited for a few seconds in case Josh had a trick up his sleeve. But he carried out this pause for a bit too long. Josh looked at him evilly, yet puzzled. "Have you become a statue just now?" Josh asked.

Andre continued his turn. He looked at the card he had drawn and looked at the sky above Josh's head for a second. Andre was definitely considering what to do. I guessed that Andre wasn't quite used to being behind like this... Andre summoned his Tribe-Infecting Virus (1600/1000) in attack mode, but did nothing with it, "Now it's your turn," Andre tried to sound as unintimidated as he could.

Josh simply drew his next card and activated it, "I'm increasing my life points by 1000 by activating Dian Keto the Cure Master. Now I have 7150. And, next, I shall show you some mercy. I flip my other face down monster, Hiro's Shadow Scout (650/500). You now get to draw three cards. Then we both look at them. Any magic cards among them MUST be discarded to the graveyard. So go ahead; I know you must be heart broken since you didn't get to use your Pot of Greed, right?"

Andre resentfully drew the top three cards of his deck.

Josh waited for a second before saying, "Now- let's see what you've got..." Andre had no choice but to put the three cards face down onto the special card image-reading spaces where, on the huge scoreboard could clearly be seen a Skilled Dark Magician, Malevolent Nuzzler and a Megamorph. Oh man, what a shame! He really could have used those cards. But Andre was happy enough to have a reasonably strong monster in his hand after he discarded those two magic cards to the graveyard.

Josh ended his turn. And so Andre happily drew his next card and summoned it, "I summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) in attack mode. My soldier attacks your Man-Eater Bug!" The fiend zipped across the fiend and sliced the insect with his sword. Then Andre got another great idea, "And now I discard the Skilled Dark Magician from my hand to use my Tribe-Infecting Virus's effect. I declare one type of monster, then monsters of that type are destroyed. So, what type is Hiro's Shadow Scout?" Andre asked.

I couldn't believe it! Andre really wasn't playing with a full deck, was he? (No pun intended...) Hiro's Shadow Scout has been around forever. I guess I can't blame him for not knowing about every single card. I mean, there are quite a few cards that I've never heard of as well, but I'm familiar with most of the noteworthy fiends out there and then some- a lot.

"Ha ha ha, why, it's a fiend of course..." Josh answered Andre's question simply yet still in his trademarked evil tone.

"Uh... ha ha, it's a fiend?" Andre repeated the answer he was told a bit shocked.

"Yes. So what type monster would you like to declare? You've already discarded your Skilled Dark Magician; ...what type monster?" Josh grilled Andre to make another decision. It seems that when things aren't for certain, Andre pauses a lot.

"I'm still getting rid of fiends. That way, I still have a monster on the field," Andre reasoned, rather well. So the green gas expanded to cover all of the arena's monster zones. The two fiend cards were destroyed, leaving Andre's Tribe-Infecting Virus behind. "And now he'll attack your life points directly!" Andre made an attempt to reduce Josh's life points more, but they were thwarted, "Oh no, no, no. This can't be. I'm activating my Sakuretsu Armor trap card. It destroys your monster as soon as you declare the attack, so my life points remain the same." As soon as he activated the lethal trap card, holographic armor of spikes manifested around Josh. The spikes exploded off of him and pierced the monster and destroyed it. Both players had no cards on the field or in their hands and each had about the same life points. And it was Andre's turn...

He drew his next card and was relieved to see that it was summonable, "I summon Maha Vailo (1550/1400) and attack your life points directly!" Andre was extremely excited to get another decent hit on this guy's life points. Now he had 5600 while his own were still at 7000.

Josh drew his next card and smiled, "I set one monster in defense. And I think that I will end my turn now," Josh said.

Andre drew his next card and he loved the outcome! "I sacrifice my Maha Vailo to summon Jinzo (2400/1500)! And now he attacks your defense monster!" The ever famous Jinzo gathered a sphere of black energy in his hands and unleashed it towards Josh's defending Penguin Soldier (750/500)- not good. Penguin Soldier was destroyed and Jinzo was returned to Andre's hand. This Josh guy was a deceptively good duelist. He doesn't appear strong initially because he allows so many of these easy hits. But he can always use every card he draws. It's strange, he must have the perfect deck!

"And now I do believe that it is my turn," Josh needlessly dragged out his sentence as he drew his next card. Surprisingly, he just kept the card in his hand and ended his turn, which disproves the statement I just made.

Andre drew a card and set it in defense mode. Was Andre about to make another comeback?

Josh drew a card again and set it in defense mode. What was this? I think defense mode is the mode of choice of both of these guys. It's like they're each trying to undermine the other trying to undermine the other. All this undermining is going to make them both blow up.

So Andre drew his next card, and finally this duel picked up, I sacrifice my face down Magician of Faith (300/400) to summon my Jinzo (2400/1500) again in attack mode. My Magician of Faith lets me get a magic card back from the graveyard, so I'm choosing my Pot of Greed AND I'm activating it so I can finally draw two cards from my deck. So Andre happily drew two cards and smirked at Josh. I recognized that smirk. That was his "you're really screwed now" smirk, "I activate my Premature Burial! At the cost of 800 life points, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard and special summon it in face up attack mode then equip it with this card. I'm getting my Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) back. And now he'll attack your face down monster. The recently revived fiend slashed apart Josh's hidden Crimson Ninja (300/300). "This ninja guy has quite the special flip effect. I get to destroy one trap card. If it's face down, I flip it face up and look at it. And if it's a trap card, it's gone. If it's a magic card, I turn it back face down. So let's try the card all the way to YOUR left, shall we?" Andre reluctantly flipped it over and revealed the selection to Josh.

"Ha ha, excellent. I'm sure you can get along fine without a MetalMorph, right? Anyway, it's still your turn. So please, continue," Josh practically invited Andre to attack him. So after a direct attack from Jinzo, Josh's life points were at 3200. Andre's were still strong at 6200.

Then it was Josh's turn. He wasted no time drawing a card and summoning a monster, "Now to the field I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600). Secondly, I equip him with Malevolent Nuzzler. That will boost his attack strength to 2600. Now he can attack and destroy your fiend, there. It's so sad that he has to leave us again. Luster Dragon, attack his fiend right now!" Josh calmly commanded his glowing blue dragon. Above the sapphire dragon formed a scintillating orb of white and gray. Then without warning, countless icicles shot out of it and spread randomly around the fiend's monster zone. Some of the icicles missed in their twisting paths, but most of them definitely made contact. It was so cool. I don't care if this was the enemy- if something looks cool, I'm gonna say so!

So the Archfiend Soldier was destroyed again. But this time, Andre lost 700 life points, bringing his total to 5500. "My turn is over. But now it is yours!" Josh spoke as if he knew that the card Andre was about to draw wouldn't help him. It looked like he was wrong, I think, judging by the way Andre reacted to his new card. He set the card in defense and ended his turn.

Josh set his card next his Malevolent Nuzzler, attacked and destroyed Jinzo with Luster Dragon, damaging Andre for 200 more life points leaving him at 5300.

Then Andre's turn began again. After drawing a card which he quickly looked at, he flipped over the card he set last turn. "It's time for Cyber Jar (900/900)'s flip effect!" Andre said happily.

"Are we that desperate for options?" Josh asked as if he was expecting this to happen. All monsters were destroyed by that violent explosion of the Cyber Jar. Then each duelist drew 5 cards and showed them to each other.

Andre drew Mad Dog of Darkness (lvl 4), Gearfried the Iron Knight (lvl 4), Mask of Darkness (lvl 2), Penguin Soldier (lvl 2), and Giant Trunade

Josh drew Giga Gagagigo (lvl 5), Tremendous Fire, Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness (lvl 4), Gyaku-Gire Panda (lvl 3) and Cemetery Bomb.

"You know the drill, now we special summon the level four or lower monster in face up attack or face down defense," Andre said just in case any of the four of us in the whole arena forgot. Andre summoned his Mad Dog of Darkness (1900/1400) and Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) and set his other two cards.

Josh summoned his Sea Serpent Warrior (1800/1500) and his panda (800/1600).

"Wha, what? Why'd you summon that thing with only 800 attack points?" Andre sounded concerned and confused.

"I take it you've never heard of this little one. He's certainly a potentially power card. For every monster you control on the field, HE gets 500 extra attack points! So his attack total is actually 2800!" Josh loved shocking Andre like this. I was a little shocked too. That means that its attack can go all the way up to 3300 without equip cards!

"Anyway, it's still my turn. I'm activating my Giant Trunade magic card. It returns all magic and trap cards on the field to the hand of their owner," So after a huge hurricane came barreling through, the two got back their one card they had set, "now I'm setting these two cards. And Since I haven't yet normal summoned a monster yet, I'm gonna do that now. I sacrifice my face down mask of Darkness (900/400) to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200). And I get to use my monster's flip effect and bring back a trap card to my hand... which I'll now set," Andre was back. Even though Josh had that super powerful panda card, he had almost a full field of monsters and three cards face down. This was the Andre we were used to! "And now it's my battle phase. Summoned Skull, attack his sea serpent!" The Summoned Skull zapped the heck out of the aquatic monster. Upon its destruction, Josh lost 700 more life points. His total was a low 2500. But something wasn't right... At such a huge score difference, why was Josh still smiling as if he still had 8000?

"Aha ha ha... foolishness must be entertaining at times..." Josh taunted as he drew a card. "I'm activating the magic card Tremendous Fire. We both lose 1000 life points!" Suddenly, a huge firestorm rained down from the sky and torched both players' platforms. Andre's total sunk to 4300. That was still high, though, in comparison to Josh's 1500. "I'll just set these three cards face down and attack your Penguin Soldier with my panda," Josh said in a smooth, evil voice.

"You're what? Don't you know that he returns monsters to your hand?" Andre argued.

"Of course I know; I used one against you earlier, did I not?" Josh sounded really confident that whatever plan he had would work...

The panda punched the penguin which was destroyed and josh's panda was indeed returned to his hand. But suddenly, Andre's life points took a sharp drop to 2000- now only slightly higher than Josh's 1500. "HEY! What's going on? He was in defense!" Andre protested his sudden low number of life points.

"Oh yes, we are all quite aware. You see, my panda has another effect that I've not told you. When it destroys a defense position monster, the difference between his attack and your monster's defense is subtracted from your life points. Do the math: he had 2800 attack points, then subtract your penguin's defense of 500 equaling 2300 points of damage. Oh but don't worry. It looks like you can claim this duel now since I have NO monsters on the field!" There it was again- an open invitation to directly assault him. I, personally, would not have accepted this invitation and I wished that Andre wouldn't.

Andre drew a card, didn't even look at it, which is unlike him, and attacked with his Summoned Skull. But Josh was prepared. Oh, was he prepared! "It figures that you wouldn't catch on to an obvious trap... I activate Draining Shield. It negates your Summoned Skull's attack and adds the same number of his attack points to my life points. So now I have an even 4000!" Josh laughed as a green bubble appeared around him while the Summoned Skull tried relentlessly to touch him with his lightning bolts. But he soon gave up and Josh's life points skyrocketed. But the trap wore off and it was still Andre's turn, "Care to attack me again?" Josh invited.

Andre took him up on his offer and attacked him first with his Mad Dog of Darkness. Josh's life points dropped to 2100. In response to this, Josh activated his Solemn Wishes trap card, "Every time I draw a card, I gain 500 life points!"  
Then Andre attacked with Gearfried, taking Josh's life points down to a measly 300. But this proved to be fatal for Andre. Josh activated his face down Cemetery bomb which he had drawn as a result of Andre's Cyber Jar. There were exactly 20 cards in Andre's graveyard, leaving him with exactly 0 life points... Andre lost!

The unsympathetic holograms vanished into thin air and both duelists collected their cards and descended to the ground. I was genuinely shocked, but not as much as Andre. How could he lose? Wasn't he doing well? I thought for sure that we'd face off in that final duel, but I guess not.

In front of Linda, Andre received that G I/P T envelope with $1000 dollars and Josh took Andre's Tribe-Infecting Virus. Josh, my next opponent, said to me, "I know that you duel with mostly fiends. This card should help me out quite nicely." And he crossed his arms and waited for Andre and me to finish talking, "Hey- you've made it this far and you got $1000 in the process! You won some cards from people, you made friends... right?" I thought I was helping him out by talking to him supportively.

But Andre never was one for support, "Listen- it's fine. I just drew bad cards, that's all. And everybody loses sometime. This time, I lost. Just... whatever. I'll see you on the boat," and he stiffly walked out of the arena.

The air got colder. I was alone with my rival and the short blonde-haired lady. She spoke, "So do you guys just wanna get started?"


	25. Tournament Stories part 25

Tournament Stories part 25

Linda waited for us to respond to the question she had just asked, "So do you guys just wanna get started?"

Josh and I looked at each other realizing that one of us was going to be the winner. One of us was going to get the chance to meet and duel the tournament's host. One of us was going to be hailed 'The Best at his Game.'

I pretty much answered for both of us, though, "Yes, Linda. I think we're ready." It was a very proud moment- to finally get this OVER with!

But Linda spoiled the mood, "Ha ha, actually no you're not! You two are entitled to another card prize. This time, the card is guaranteed to be at least of super rarity, that is, a card with a holograpic background but no special lettering." Then she looked at the both of us and let out a little embarrassed laugh. "The card can be a magic, monster OR trap card. So here they are, and who will pick first?" Linda inquired. I looked at Josh- not angrily, but not freindly either- to suggest he take first. "I always let the hunted go first," he commented. So I took the card to Linda's right and opened it. It was a fusion monster called Gatling Dragon. I really didn't feel like bothering with fusion monsters, so I put it in my pack with all the other spare cards I had. Josh didn't feel like making his new card functional either.

"Alright, now that THAT'S outta the way, let me tell you what the cash prize for this round is. The one who does not win this duel gets the $250 entitled to the top 32, the $250 entitle to the top 16, the newly added $500 entitled to the top four, that's $1000 so far. And NOW you'll get an additional $1500 making the total $2500; that's quite an amount of money, wouldn't you say? Anwyay, the host has decided that as a final twist, he wants both of you to reduce your decks to FOURTY cards- not forty-one, exactly FOURTY!" She made the required number quite clear. Josh and I grumbled something completely different, although I'd bet that it was about the same thing, under our breath. She led us to a spot in the stands and told us to separate ourselves and reduce our decks to a shockingly scary and rather low FOURTY cards! That's the size of my deck... minus twelve...

First, I reasoned that I wanted to be known as the greatest fiend duelist. So the first thing I did was get all 17 of my fiends into a separate pile reserved for cards that would serve in this 'top 40.' Then I searched for my Mystic Plasma Zone field card. Most of the fiends out there are of the dark attribute. I need as much help as I can get. Then I remembered my Infernalqueen Archfiend's negative effect. Every standby phase she's on the field, I lose life points. I don't want that to happen. And, having been a witness to Josh's dueling strategies, he'd probably get rid of it before I can attack with her, so I put her aside. Then I put Jinzo aside, even though he is a dark attribute, because I needed my traps for this particular duel. I added my own Mad Dog of Darkness to the 'top 40' because of his strong basic attack and being a dark attribute; I was well on my way. I had already neutralized 2 cards and filled up 18 slots... 22 to go to decide among 32 remaining cards. I tried to stay away from continuous magic and trap cards because I'd need the space in my magic and trap zones, so that ruled out Ominous Fortuntelling, among others... I was extremely stingy and doubtful of cards that'd be useful. So just when I thought that I had excluded just enough to perfect my 'top 40,' I was eight short. I took comfort in this fact and happily, but still carefully, added eight more that I thought would be useful.

I looked over my shoulder and noticed Josh was having considerable trouble with shortening his deck. He was definitely making progress, but it was slow progress. I guess rare hunters fill up their decks with rare and powerful cards so much that they forget that there's actually a minimum...? Well anyway, he slimmed it down, walked towards Linda and we both gave our decks to her as a middle-woman who gave each the other's deck. I shuffled it generously, as did Josh. Then we got our decks back and the three of us ascended in our platforms.

Linda said before the duel started, "And one last thing: the host would like to have a few words with you two..." And with that, the scoreboard screen faded to black and brightened up only a little to reveal that silhouette of a man while he addressed us, "So it's come to this. You two are the top duelists in this entire tournament. And I think you should know that I've been watching **every**one who had been competing in this tournament. But now, needless to say, **every**one is watching you two!" I was expecting video cameras to emerge from the four corners of the arenas or something right after he finished that sentence. But then it occurred to me that he was just using a metaphor... he continued, "This is going to be one of the greatest duels to have ever been conducted on this island slash peninsula." (He actually DID say 'slash'!) "And so I wish both of you luck against each other, and then eventually against me if you so choose... hmm hmm hmm!" The screen fizzled out leaving Josh's and my faces above the LP bar and other necessary statistics.

"You may now begin!" Linda announced in case there was any doubt.

And here was Josh, "I always let the hunted go first..."

_Weirdo_ I thought as I drew a sixth card. But what a good first hand! It doesn't really get better than Posion of the Old Man, Goblin Attack Force, Spirit Barrier, Sakuretsu Armor, Sangan and Dummy Golem. Looking for an early lead, I set my two trap cards and my rock monster in defense.

Josh smirked and said, "Hiding shall get you nowhere! I first activate my Dian Keto the Cure Master. My life points go up to 9000. Next I'm activating my Bait Doll magic card. It lets me attempt at destroying one of your face down trap cards by forcing it to activate. If the activation's timing is wrong, the trap card's a goner, otherwise it's returned face down. But, either way, Bait Doll returns to my deck and it gets shuffled. So let's force the card all the way to your left, shall we?" Josh suggested. I flipped over the trap to my right and sent my Sakuretsu Armor to the graveyard. "Oh dear, that must painful! Such an effective trap card now useless to you! Well anyway, I set one card face down and summon my Gyaku-Gire Panda (800/1600) in attack mode. Since you have one monster of the field, his attack is boosted to 1300... but I'm not attacking. However, you may feel free to do so; I end my turn."

Josh was plotting something. I was reminded of how quickly he beat Andre when he was, at first, winning by so much. I didn't want that happening to me, so I had to be careful and always expect the worst...

I drew my next card, which was quickly discarded thanks to Josh activating his Drop Off trap card. So I was forced to discard my Shadow Spell to the graveyard on the spot. "Oh! Another useful trap gone to the grave... you must be rather angry, yes? Anyway, please continue your turn."

"I will: with a chain of your Drop Off! I'm activating my Spirit Barrier now for early protection. As long as I have a monster on the field, battle damage doesn't hurt me!" I explained this card which I'm sure he's seen before... But I continued my turn, "I set one card face down and summon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0) in attack mode. Now they destroy your panda!" I watched the ruthless beating of that rabid beast by my green-skinned warriors. Josh's life points went down to 8500 and my attack force switched themselves into defense as their effect says.

"My turn again," Josh stated the obvious as he drew a card. "I'll set this card I drew face down and set one of my own monsters in defense. It's now your move again," Josh wanted me to get my hopes up. But I wasn't going to feel safe until his life points were zero...

I drew my Spear Cretin but couldn't really use it at this point. Actualy, I couldn't really use ANY of my monsters because they all had effects that I'd much rather Josh activate himself. But then I remembered that I had my Spirit Barrier out and figured that there was no risk involved. So I actually summoned my Sangan (1000/600) and attacked his defense monster. Josh greedily smiled when I declared this attack and flipped over his face down Offerings to the Doomed, "I'll use this card's effect to destroy your Goblin Attack Force at the cost of my next draw phase," he said as my goblins disappeared. And then that solid plastic bubble slipped over his deck.

I interrupted the course of events, "I'm adding to this by activating my own quick-play magic card, Poison of the Old Man. And I choose to increase my life points by 1200," so my life points rose to 9200.

And as for the attack, Sangan wasn't strong enough to defeat the defending Yomi Ship (800/1400). Luckily, I didn't lose life points. But I wouldn't have minded the ship's effect taking its course; I wanted Sangan to be destroyed so I could use his effect.

Josh's turn again. And all he did was set his final card in defense.

My turn again. I drew La Jinn and summoned him to the field. I really didn't want to attack his Yomi Ship. I was now only drawing one card per turn, so was Josh. I can't just squander cards however I feel. So I flipped over my Dummy Golem (800/800). And his effect requires Josh to select one card on his side of the field to switch control with him. Josh quickly decided on his Yomi Ship, and the transaction was made. I had this huge, wooden boat on my side of the field and he had my rock monster. And I really didn't feel like taking any risks, so I attacked and destryoed by Dummy Golem and ended my turn there.

Josh was able to draw again. He set whatever it was that he drew face down and flipped over his defending monster, man-eater bug (450/600), "And I'm obviously destroying your La Jinn," Josh said simply. So I was short one fiend. But now I had a chance to deal some damage to him.

On my next turn I drew one of my rarest cards again, Invader of Darkness! I guess when you slim down your deck like this, you draw cards that you need more often. But should I summon him? How do I know that what he has face down isn't a trap set for strong monsters like him? So I decided it against it for now, "I'm switching your Yomi Ship to attack mode and attacking your Man-Eater Bug!" A little cannon on the side of the ship blasted a cannonball right through the insect. "And now I attack you directly with my Sangan," I said. Sangan scurried ahead and took several mean-looking scratches at Josh's platform. But he just laughed and took the 1000 damage in evil good spirits. His life points were steady at 7500. Mine were higher at 9200. It was his turn again.

He drew a card and set it in defense... WHAT was he trying to do, lose on purpose? I felt like forcefeeding him his own words, 'Hiding shall get you nowhere,' but decided against it because that wasn't very sportsman-like.

I drew Giant Germ on my next turn and set him immediately. And I attacked his defense monster with his Yomi Ship. This defending card could have eight billion defense points and I wouldn't feel a thing. The face down card was A Cat of Ill Omen (500/300). And that's where my luck began to go south. "When this guy is fliped, I get to select a trap card from my deck and put it on the TOP of my deck. I t doesn't even say that I need to shuffle!" Josh sounded as happy as evil can sound while he thumbed through his deck. All of his traps that I'd seen so far were pretty devastating. Who knows what he could have chosen? But eventually he did pick one and otioned for me to continue. I attacked him directly again for 1000 more points of damage. Now he had 6500. Victory was getting closer...

He drew his trap and set it. Now this was a trap that he hand-picked from his entrie deck. It must be something terrible.

So on my next turn, after I drew and played my field card Mystic Plasma Zone, I didn't summon any additional monster and I did not attack- I'll take no chances with guy, thank you. But in any case, thefield grew darker until it was shrouded in dark blue and sapphire lightning blazed across the sky. All dark monsters from then on got +500 ATK and -400 DEF.

Josh had been quiet for a long time by that point until he drew his next card, "And so begins this duel... I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman (1700/1000) in attack mode." Holy crap! It was my former favorite card! In all the duels I'd seen and expereinced, I'd never seen another person with this guy in their deck. But I decided to let it go. After all, my new favorite card is much more powerful and even looks cooler... Josh continued, "Attck his Sangan," Neo cast a spell on his sword that made it glow a metallic blue. Then he threw his sword up in the air, jumped up, caught it and sliced his blade vertically down into the ground. A massive blue fissure sprouted from the sword and spread erratically toward my fiend. It circled around him and exploded upward, vaporizing him- what a cool attack. I lost no life points, but I did get to use Sangan's effect. From my deck I was able to take one monster with 1500 attack points or fewer and add it to my hand. I decided on my Big Eye, then I shuffled my deck.

It was once again my move and I drew my Man-Eater Bug. I considered setting him. But that Invader of Darkness was burning a hole in my hand. Such a powerful and commanding card should be on the field by now making a mess of everything! Why was I being so careful? And then I remembered the trap that he himself chose and set my Big Eye.

"You must be afraid of the trap I have, aren't you? Come now, what kind of duelist doesn't take risks once in a while?" Josh sounded like he was scolding me...?

But I replied, "I don't want you guys getting your hands on my Black Skull Dragon. It may not be a part of my deck anymore, but it's one of the oldest cards I have. It's value to you guys is nothing compared to its pricelessness to me!" I stated my case quite well, I thought.

Josh paused and commneted, "Very well... save the needless theatrics for drama class, if you will. This is a duel... not a beauty pageant." I laughed slightly at this but quickly realized that it did sound rather stupid- like something an anime character would say. So I continued my turn by ending it.

Josh set in defense the next card he drew and then attacked and destroyed my face down Giant Germ (1500/0). He lost 500 life points, I got to special summon another one (1500/0) in face up attack and then I shuffled my deck. The scores were: 6000-Josh 9200-me. I began to get worried that he let my score stay this high for so long... but there's where he actiavted his hidden trap. As soon as he received that damage, he flipped over his chosen trap card. I nearly panicked. But it was only the Compulsory Evacuation Device, "And all this time you could have lowered my life points even lower..." Josh taunted as he demanded his Yomi Ship return back to his hand. The duel seemed safer after that trap was activated. But there was still the other card he had face down...

It was my turn again and I drew my next card. And just then I resolved that I would keep my deck this size forever because, apparently, it was spitting out great cards left and right! I had drawn Dark Ruler Ha Des! Without giving a second thought I tributed my face down Big Eye (1700/600) and summoned Dark Ruler Ha Des (2950/1200) in attack mode!

(Big Eye's effect: the top five cards were mad Dog of Darkness, Kiseitai, Gagagigo, Rafflesia Seduction and Bottomless Trap Hole. Number them 1-5 respectively and I ordered them 1, 5, 2, 4, 3.)

When I placed this prized fiend card on the field, the orb representing my tributed Big Eye went berserk. It flitzed everywhere and did endless zig-zags and spirals to no end, pulsing and vibrating like crazy. Then it softly exploded with a white schockwave revealing a dark purple core. It slowly molded itself into this feared fiend's form. When his face could be seen, a mystical white aura seemed to evaporate right off of him. And continued to do so for as long as he existed. It wasn't as cool an entry as the Dark Necrofear or Invader of Darkness, but it was an entrance.

"Attack his spellcaster!" I commanded him. His rotting green face twisted into a fiendish smile. As he held his wine glass in his left hand, he revealed his right hand and snapped his fingers. Directly above him, a bright blue bolt of lightning exploded down from the sky and collided right with the blue orbs on either side of his head. Replacing his white aura was a dark blue aura which he launched in full and he spread out his hand right at Neo. The chaotic force was like a wall of blue headed straight toward the swordsman. He tried using his sword to deflect the attack, but it was way too much and he was destroyed. Josh's life points went down to 4750. I had nearly twice the amount of him! Then remembering that I had my Spirit Barrier out, I attacked his face-down monster with my Giant Germ. The defending monster was Mask of Darkness (1400/0) and I got excited, "You can't bring a trap card back from your graveyard! ...Even though his flip effect says you can, Dark Ruler Ha Des neutralizes all effect monsters' effects as long as he's on the field and if a fiend destroys that effect monster; my Giant Germ is a fiend. How about THAT?" I boasted my fiend arsenal as he looked minorly impressed.

He drew a card and spoke, "Somehow, you aren't the only one with powerful cards..." Josh set his Yomi Ship in defense and then shuffled through his graveyard and, "I remove one light (Neo the Magic Swordsman) and one dark (Mask of Darkness) monster from play in order to special summon my Chaos Sorcerer (2800/1600)!"

A light and a dark orb sprouted from the ground of his side of the field. They danced around each other fast enough to form something that looked like a portal. Although I could clearly see through it- my opponent's platform, his face-down monster card and face down trap or magic card- it was rippling like a thin sheet of water somehow suspended in the air by two circling sprinklers. Through the portal emerged one of the weirdest-dressed spellcasters I had ever seen. He had all this black, almost leather-looking stuff on with orange trim every foot or so. He looked like one of those deranged death metal singers who like to yell more than sing... When he was done coming out of his portal, he held out his hands as far as they would reach. When the two orbs made contact with a hand, they stopped their motion and stuck onto him palms, he was now in control of them. Josh said, "And now you get to see his power full force. Chaos Sorcerer, REMOVE Dark Ruler Ha Des from play!" I was taken completely by surprise that there existed a monster who could just... DO that! I watched as the dark orb disappeared from the sorcerer's hand. He only focused on the light one. With a skillful wave of his arm, the orb drifted right through my fiend monster and made him vanish from the field completely. It was cool... "And now, since I've used his effect, he is not allowed to attack. So it's your move."

That card was definitely powerful. I wonder what his MOST powerful card was, though? I drew my Mad Dog of Darkness and realized just how useless he'd be out there. I considered setting my Man-Eater Bug to set a simple trap. But if he were to be removed from play, would the flip effect still take its course? It's not every duel that a monster is removed from play. And effect monsters, especially flip effect monsters, are sometimes the most annoying and controversial monsters when it comes to conditions of activation and so forth. But I set it anyway figuring that a risky plan is better than no plan at all.

It was Josh's turn once again. He drew a card and set it in defense mode. Then he used that orb of light to remove my Giant Germ from play. He ended his turn and used this opportunity to destroy his monster.

I drew my Bottomless Trap Hole and set it. Then I summoned my Mad Daog of Darkness (2400/1000). After that I flipped over my Man-eater Bug which took care of his Chaos Sorcerer. Then I attacked the card that wasn't his hidden Yomi Ship. Instead, I destryoed his defending Crimson Ninja (300/300) who can destroy traps once he's flipped. So he got rid of my Spirit Barrier, and I instantly felt less secure.

Josh drew his next card and set it. Then he ended his turn. He knew that I wasn't going to do anything. I wouldn't dare attack his Yomi ship with nothing to directly damage him. Without that Spirit Barrier of mine, I am definitely less courageous. Besides, he's got those two face down cards.

So I drew my Kiseitai and set him figuring that he could only do good. And that's where he activated another one of his non-threatening face down cards, "I'm activating Soul Reversal. All it does is let me take a flip effect monster from my graveyard and put it on the top of my deck."He had quite a few flip effect monsters in there, if my memory served me right. It unnerved me what he could choose.

On Josh's next turn, he set the flip effect monster that he drew. For a top-ranked duelist, he wasn't very much for the offensive side of the game this time around. But neither was I, really. Was the duel supposed to be this cautious... this boring?

I drew my Rafflesia Seduction on my next move and was tired of being cautious; the action was moving too slowly! I tributed my Man-Eater Bug and my face down Kiseitai (800/400) and summoned my Invader of Darkness (3400/2100)! Exactly like last time, my most powerful (attack point wise) fiend made a forceful entrance with the gold and black orbs and the same light show and so forth. And I exaplined that all of his quick play magic cards were now useless. He was lcuky to have played his Soul Reversal when he did. Then I attacked his Yomi Ship with my Mad Dog of Darkness; I had a more powerful monster on the field now! My brave sacrificial beast clawed through the wooden boat, and it was destroyed. And then I attacked his flip effect monster with my mighty fiend. Who cares if it was his Man-Eater Bug; I've got Spear Cretin in my hand! So the brilliant goldish white blast of energy from the palm of Invader of Darkness's palm atomized the Cat of Ill Omen (1000/0) again. And he again got to bring a trap from his deck to the top of his deck which drew and set.

Then it was my turn all over again. I drew Gagagigo and summoned him (1850/1000) thinking that the worst it could be was a Mirror Force. But with a Bottomless Trap Hole and a Spear Cretin, I was fine. First I directly attacked him with my reptile. That brought his life points down to 2900... there's no way he was going to make it this easy. But I guess I just had to try. I foolishly attacked him with my Invader of Darkness. That's where he activated his Draining Shield trap. Because of that, his lifepoints flew up to 6300. And so with nothing more to do, I ended my turn.

And it figures, all he did on his next turn was set a monster in defense. I was so mad! Where was the undermining? Where was the shocking surprise? Where was the Josh that beat Andre (not that I'm complaining...)?

I drew my Gift of the Martyr and set my Rafflesia Seducton in defense, figuring it'd be useful eventually. Then, Gagagigo attacked his defense monster which was the Penguin Soldier (750/500). I felt kind of foolish. He told me to take my Gagagigo and Invader of Darkness back into my hand. But it was either now or on his next turn. Speaking of which, he drew his card and summoned it to the field, "I summon the Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode!" I was actually wondering when I'd get to see this card of him, not that it mattered, "I'm activating Bottomless Trap Hole! Your monster is on a one way fall to... well, wherever a bottomless hole ends," I weakly finished that taunt.

My turn again, and drawing the Magician of Faith made my hand five cards full! I never have such a large hand this late in any duel... was Josh going easy on me? It sure felt like it... I resummoned my Gagagigo (1850/1000) and set my Gift of the Martyr. Then I attacked his life points directly, leaving him at 4450. I ended my turn.

Josh drew and activated a card for once, "I'm activating my Shallow Grave magic card. We now get to go through our graveyards and special summon a monster in face down defense position." So I set my Kiseitai and he set his choice. And then his turn was over... again.

Then I drew Bait Doll and activated it to solve whether the one card he STILL had face down was a trap or not. It turns out that it was simply a Black Pendant. Not really caring (or paying attention, I tributed my Gagagigo and face down Rafflesia Sedution (300/900) to summon my Invader of Darkness (3400/2100) again. I attacked his Penguin Soldier (750/500) again! What the hell? So both of our fields were empty with just one magic or trap card face down. It was Josh's turn.

He summoned his Sea Serpent warrior of Darkness (1800/1500), equipped it with Black Pendant and brought my life points down to 6900. I guess you could call it a comeback. Josh even said, "Those last few turns were quite the stressful bunch indeed."

I tried to ignore his pointless chatter and focused on the Summoned Skull I just drew. I felt uneasy at this point, despite me bring in the lead this whole time. Now all I had ready to play were defense monsters. Using my Spear Cretin would giv the advantage to him, since he has his Chaos Sorcerer in his graveyard. And my Magician of faith and Kiseitai are fine, but they wouldn't be there next turn! But I had to do something, so I set my Magician of Faith. Josh drew his next card and just smirked. He kept the card in his hand and destroyed my face down Magician of Faith (300/400). I used her effect to bring my Poison of the Old man back to my hand.

I drew my Archfiend Soldier next turn, set my Poison of the Old Man and then summoned my Archfiend Soldier (2400/1100). "Archfiend Soldier, destryo his water monster!" I commanded. My fiend monstr raised his sword to the ominous black and blue sky. A brilliant bolt of lightning jolted down and right into it. He gripped his sword tightly and slashed it across. The electricity flew off the sword and sliced right through his monster, shrinking Josh's life points down to 4350. But mine decreased to 6400 since he was using Black Pendant, but it was worth it. And although I could have activated my quick play magic card then, I decided to wait for a more crucial time.

Josh drew another card. He said, "I'll now be summoning my recently won Tribe-Infecting Virus (1600/1000)," he looked at the last card in his hand and continued, "And instead of using its effect, I'll activate this magic card instead. It's called Hammer Shot! It lets me instantly destroy the monster in face-up attack position with the highest attack points. In this case, your Archfiend Soldier!" And so from nowhere, the hugest wooden hammer I had ever seen flattened my Archfiend Soldier and exploded violently into splonters and woodchips! Was Josh holding out all ths time just to lure me into a false sense of security? ...Most likely... So after the dust settled, Josh ordered his virus to attack me directly. At that moment, I activated my Poison of the Old Man. This time I increased my life points by 1200 and then took the 1600 damage, ultimately bringing my life points down to a level 6000, "now it is your move," Josh said. I drew my Bait Doll and thought how weirdly cool it was that I had just drawn it three turns ago, but was kind of disappointed that I couldn't use it. I was running out of options... I set my Kiseitai and ended my move.

"Excellent, simply excellent. I set one trap card face down and attack your defense monster," Josh seemed like he was in a good mood... for an evil guy. The destructive green gas destroyed my face down Kiseitai (800/400), which was equipped to his aqua card. So at every one of his sandby phases, I'd get an 800 point LP boost! That's not so bad.

And now it was my turn again. I remembered Josh saying that the card he had set was a trap. But anyone can just SAY that. I wondered if I should use my Bait Doll to get rid of it while I drew my Mask of the Accursed. Almost needless to say, I equipped his Tribe-Infecting Virus with it which prevented him from attacking and forced Josh to take 500 LP damage for each of my standby phases. Then I chose to take a gamble and see if that face down card of his was a trap and it was, a Michizure to be exact. What a bummer for him! And then I decided to not set my Spear Cretin for protection because his Tribe-Infecting Virus couldn't attack. And if he summoned a different monster, I'd be getting 800 points back anyway, so I relaxed a bit.

He drew a card and, after I got 800 life points during his standby phase, did something I hadn't thought of. "I tribute my aqua card to summon Giga Gagagigo (2450/1500) in attack mode!" At that moment, both my Kiseitai and Mask of the Accursed were destryoed and he got a respectable monster on the field. He slammed my life points down to 4350- even with his own- and laughed an amused laugh, "Aheh ha ha ha ha! Why you elected to not protect your life points with a monster is indeed a mystery to me. But anyway, it is now your turn."

Crap! How was he suddenly doing so well by having only one card in his hand per turn? I had nearly endless options throughout the duel but can do almost nothing now, even with the Last Will I had drawn. I set my Last Will and set my Spear Cretin with no other choice.

He drew a card and kept it in his hand. Then he carelessly attacked and destroyed my face down Spear Cretin (1000/100). We used his effect to bring one monster back from our graveyards in either face up attack or face down defense. I chose to set my Dummy Golem because I knew he'd bring back his Chaos Sorcerer (2800/1600) again. I was in severe trouble... right?

He ended his turn and I drew my Wall of Illusion. It was a decent card for the present circumstnace, but I had a better idea. In fact, call this a stroke of genius because I thought I will have just won this slow-paced duel! "I'm activating my Last Will magic card. If one of my monsters is sent from the field to the graveyard during this turn, I can special summon a monster with 1500 attack points or less from my deck. On that note, I'm tributing my hidden Dummy Golem (800/800) which activates his flip effect. Now you've gotta pick one card on your side of the field to switch control with this monster, who isn't actually here anymore!" Josh angrily relinquished his Giga Gagagigo as my Dummy Golem disappeared from the field. Then Last Will activated. And I used that effect to special summon my Sonic Bird (1400/1000). "Anyway, I tributed my rock monster to summon my Summoned Skull (3000/800) in attack mode! Next I'm activating my other card, Gift of the Martyr! I send one monster on my side of the field to the graveyard and select a different monster on my side to add the destroyed monster's attack points, so I'm sending your reptile to the graveyard, and my Summoned Skull will get his attack power!" Suddenly, his monster faded into a mere thin white outline which hovered over my fiend. An orange beam showered my Summoned Skull with strength as the outline faded away. "NOW his attack is a massive 5450! But that's not the end of it! A monster of mine has just been sent to the graveyard, which means that Last Will activates again, so I'm special summoning my mask of Darkness (1400/0)!" It was indeed rather bleak for Josh over there. He stood there aghast and tried to still appear as fearsome as possible. But there's no way he wasn't shaken. After all, he was about to lose this duel, "Summoned Skull, attack his Chaos Sorcerer!"

As soon as I gave my command, a blue lightning bolt struck my powerful fiend monster and amplified his attack even more. He manifested a huge ball of lightning in his hand and threw it at the spellcaster. It made full contact and exploded with violent whitish-blue electricity everywhere. It sputtered and arched all over the arena, blazing across the holographic sky. The monster left behind a small smoldering pile of dust and Josh took a major 2650 hit on his life points. "You're next, Sonic Bird!" Goin down the row of monsters I had, my bird took flight and began flapping his wings very quickly. Suddenly, a wall of razor sharp feathers shot through the air and got stuck in his platform, another 1400 points of damage, but not enough... "Take him out, Mask of Darkness!" this simple-looking mask was hovering in the air since he was summoned. But when he began to move, the duel seeemd to freeze for a split second, it was like watching the final blow in a videogame cinematic. Somehow, all focus was drawn to my glowing gold Mask of Darkness. His eyes glowed of a silver light and his finish looked like it was glowing brighter. Then a concentrated beam of silver power focused in on Josh's platform. It stayed constanct for a second, then we could all see the end of it zoom across the field. As soon as it finished entering his platform, there was a huge explosion centered at Josh's platform right where the silver beam had entered. It was unexpected yet undoubtedtly cool.

I had won... almost too easily, what was the deal? The guy that had Andre cornered almost since the beginning was nearly a push-over for me- what happened?

We gathered by Linda who gave Josh his $2500 in that envelop labeled G I/P T. Linda instructed me to pick one card from his deck, I chose his Wave-Motion Cannon, with no intention of adding it to my deck.

Then Linda congratulated me and said that she had to call the tournament's host and inform him of my victory. She walked several feet away from us and called him up on her cell phone. So then I asked Josh the question that I'd wanted to ask him since I won the duel, "The duel seemed way easier than the one you just fought against Andre. It felt like you let me win Did you?" I expected him to sound like a normal human for once and drop the evil tone. But no, he responded in that tone I had always heard from him, in a needlessly long sentence too, "No- despite how it may have appeared, I did not and will not EVER _let_ anybody win in a duel against me. It was most probably bad luck of the draw or that I had to reduce my deck down to a repulsive forty cards... by why do you care?" He asked- still rather resentful of me.

"Well, I didn't THINK you would have let me win, but that duel didn't seem to match your skill of which I've seen up to this point," I commented.

He smirked fiendishly, "If my deck was at full power, you would have been dust... But now that you may be dueling the host of this tournament, you shall become atoms!" He put his deck in his pocket and walked out as I was left alone in that arena listening to Linda's side of the conversation, "...yes, sir... yes, that's the one. I believe so... Duelist #1... is that all? ...Very well." She hung up and faced me, "Whew! What a morning, eh? Anyway, the host wants you to meet him and to give you your prize. If you'll follow me, it's only a short walk to where we'll be picked up." She led me outside of the arena and by the front gate where I saw Josh walking down the path towards the dock where could be seen a boat with people walking in and out of and around it.

Suddenly, I heard a helicopter descending about to land near where we were standing, "You ever flown in a helicopter before?" Linda asked as it got closer. We almost had to yell to hear each other.

"No! You?" I replied.

"Not even once. But it's the only way to legally get to the host's residence!" she said with a little laugh as it landed and a nameless man opened the door and instructed us to get in.

It lifted off for the sky and I was on my way to the final part of this journey.


	26. Tournament Stories part 26

Tournament Stories part 26

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the final chapter of this story, and I think that this may even be the final story I ever write on this site. You see, I can't write concisely as is evident- especially in the last four chapters. And the more I write on one topic, the less original and exciting it becomes. I'm sure that some of you found yourselves bored as the story dragged on and on and as the duels got slower-paced. I'm going to try and restore my energy for this last duel but it'll be tough; I began this fanfic a LONG time ago. I had no idea how long this series would be. And I had no idea that it would be this long...

Now that I'm in college (Richard Stockton, namely, in case anyone who knows me is reading this- which I doubt), I'll have to focus my writing talent elsewhere. But it's been fun. And if I didn't have to be so long-winded and detailed with my stories, I'd probably write a fanfic for Ico (the best game you've never heard of) next. So here's the last installment of Tournament Stories... I probably could have thought of a better name for this whole series, too...

The helicopter hovered in mid-air over the helipad on this host dude's private island. The house was enormous! I could see it through the clouds as we descended! The air around us ran away as the chopper got lower to the ground. Then, with a rumbling thud, we touched land and some well-paid (as could be told by their new-looking suits and gelled back hair) men opened both sides of the helicopter. But we didn't know that as Linda and I both went out of my side of the helicopter.

The second my feet touched the cement of the helipad, the huge mansion jumped out at me. It must have been the largest home I had ever seen! If he can afford a place like that, what kind of rare cards could he possibly have in his deck? I was tempted to take out my deck and flip through it, but decided against it; the wind from the rotors was still kinda powerful.

"Good afternoon Ms. Linda and honored Duelist #1. The host anxiously awaits you both! Now if you'll follow me..." he smiled fakely, turned around and began walking away from us. For a second we actually forgot that he said to follow him because he said it so quickly and so monotonously that we had to practically lower our IQ's just to hear him. So we took a few quick steps and trailed the robot guy past needlessly fancy fountains and open pastures in which could be found NOTHING- not one horse, not one flower, not one tree- just endless, slightly uncut grass. We passed stone statues, marble statues, wooden statues, crystal statues and the weirdest mailbox I'd ever seen. It was definitely wood, but it was carved funny. It looked like whoever lived here wasn't a very good carpenter and tried assembling this mailbox himself in an attempt to make one of those mailboxes you see in cartoons: with the red flag on the right side that goes up and down, the flat bottom and curved top and the front hinge door that unfolds and folds up easily... it was amusing but seemed out of place in all this glamour; even his doorbell was made of crystal. Or at least I think that it was, because the robot guy led us right past his front door.

And then it hit me: _Why is LINDA here? She's not competing, and I seriously doubt she cares if I duel this guy or not... Even if I do, it's not like she'd cheer me on._ So I asked her, "Why'd you have to go with me to this guy's house?"

She looked surprised that I had asked her that and replied, "Gree Island is EMPTY now, kid! The boat with all the other losers has left already. Didn't you see it depart from port as we lifted off?"

"No... I was on the right side of the helicopter," I answered.

"Well yeah. Anyway, I took a helicopter there and I received instructions from the host during my phone call that I was to take that helicopter here. Whether or not I'm supposed to be walking with you is unknown to me. But if this guy is taking us to the host, then I guess it's fine," Linda rationalized and explained her situation. But that really didn't answer my question of WHY she was here. What she told me more or less answered the question of 'how.' I wanted to know her reason of her presence here as in why he wanted her here. But I could tell by the look on her face, which wasn't particularly negative, that she didn't want to talk anymore...

And then something else hit me: _How does Josh know the host? He referred to his dueling skills as if he had experienced them first hand. Could this head honcho dude be a rare hunter also? Is that why S and J gave me those booster packs? Is that why Josh seemed to go easy on me? Did they want to let their BOSS have the pleasure of taking my Black Skull Dragon? OH! And Linda knows that I have it too- she even spoke to me about it! Could she play a part in this? Is that why she's here?_ Too many thoughts. I looked in a lot of directions as I mentally talked to myself. It was weird how all of that seemed to instantly form a jigsaw puzzle that was already half put together. All those experiences in that tournament- it appeared to partially come together like a bad soap opera...

I toyed with different ideas in my head as the robot man led us further down the brick path, walking upon which made our shoes sound like army boots. Eventually we arrived at a serene gazebo overlooking the treeless, flowerless pasture. The house wasn't too far away behind us. The robot dude instructed us, "Board the gazebo and we will begin."

Uh... what? Before we could understand what he meant, but after we followed his instructions, he pulled a lever and with a jolt, the heavy wooden structure sank into the earth. I've ridden up and down on platforms all day- this was a dramatic snooze.

After less than a minute we were at our true destination. It looked like a secret passage used for escaping the IRS. It was rather warm in comparison to the chilly wind we had just been walking through and was nicely lit. It wasn't too bright or dim- just perfect. The gazebo stopped moving and the robot guy stepped out first, "Now follow this way," was all he said. We kept up with him as the gazebo rose up to the surface again.

I noticed that we were walking toward where the house would be if we were still above ground. I wondered why we had to walk all the way to the gazebo if we could have just entered his front door, and went down to his basement, which is where I guessed that this passage ended.

I found out when the robot man stopped. He was standing in front of a huge door. It would almost resemble a vault if it didn't have that shiny doorknob. The robot guy spoke, "This is it, good luck to you." And he didn't even open the door! He just walked off back the way we came.

Linda spoke, "Don't worry. The boss warned me about that guy. He said that if we were to get him, that it'd be okay to come in without knocking." So she grabbed the shiny knob, violently twisted it and shoved it open before I could even fully comprehend her last sentence.

The door groaned open and Linda went on ahead as if she had business to attend to. But she just stopped to get a better view of the ceiling. That room was beautiful. There wasn't any stained glass or priceless artifacts or anything like that. But there was a huge staircase in the center, a glowing candle chandelier near the top, a tasteful tile floor- not the boring marble black and white variety- with the darkest of blues and a grey slightly darker than the alt key on your keyboard (given if the keyboard you use has white and grey keys). The open curtains were some weird color that somehow complemented the grey parts of the floor, and the clear windows sparkled as they let the light in. It was still bright outside, but there was some mysterious light-muffling effect going on in here. I could still see easily; it wasn't at all dark, but the light seemed less in this room than in the hallway we were just in.

Suddenly, a voice before I could finish evaluating the room, "At last we meet!"  
Our attention was directed toward the stairs as a man in a casual suit walked down them. I walked towards him because I didn't want to be rude, since he was obviously talking to me.

"Hello, I am the host of the Gree Island/Peninsula Tournament, Mr. Nathaniel K. Streverson... but you may call me Nathan if you like," he looked like a relatively harmless guy. But what a name! I was expecting someone expected such as Pegasus, that Yugi kid, or that jerk Kaiba. I doubt that ANYone's heard of this guy...

"I think I will do that, Mr. Streverson," I said, testing him to see how determined he was to have me call him Nathan.

"Please, Nathan!" Nathan was overly excited, it seemed. And this conversation was quickly becoming awkward... "So! You are the champion of my tournament." He was telling me more than asking me, "Congratulations," and he stuck out his hand in a friendly gesture. Right before I shook it I took a quick, unnoticeable second to examine this eccentric man. His hair was kind of like mine: a mix of black and blonde that sometimes looks brown and sometimes looks blonde, all depending on the light you're in. It was styled like mine also- usually slightly combed with loose hairs everywhere, but nothing ever dramatic to take away from the "life is too short to care" look. His hazel eyes were lightly squinted. Tiny wrinkles on either side of his eye indicated that he wasn't as young as he was trying to sound. There wasn't a facial hair to be seen, his chin came to a point and looked like it could be buried in his vest if he tilted his head down enough. His black jacket hung loosely and unbuttoned on both sides of him. But his grey vest made it not matter. He wore plain black slacks that looked like they'd been worn a hundred times before and- sneakers? This was the first time I had ever shook a man's hand who was wearing a suit and sneakers, "Thank you, Nathan," I replied to his compliment.

"Well then, I know that you must be anxious to return home and see your friends so let's get right to it. Would you like to duel against me?" Suddenly I put my guard up again. I almost forgot that Josh spoke as if he knew this guy. And I was under the impression that if he won, he'd get to take one of my cards. I don't know why, but I felt the need to look at Linda just then.

She looked back at me, "Don't look at me kid."

"It'll be just like any duel that you'd played in the tournament with only one small difference. We'll start with 8000 life points, forty cards per deck, we'll obey the forbidden cards lists if you don't mind, but the winner takes a card from the loser, regardless if it's part of your deck or not!" he just then sounded deceptively aggressive. I think that underneath that carefree exterior was a vicious duelist. But I remembered where I was- the HOST'S house! I didn't think that there was any possible way I could win! I felt like saying no, but he continued, "Before you say no, I need to tell you this. If you lose, then for every 100 life points of damage I received, you will win $50. That may not sound like much, but think of it like this: say like you lose having done 7000 damage to me. Divide that by 100, you get 70. Then multiply that by 50 and you win $3500... That's a lot of money!" It WAS a lot of money, he was right. But was it worth my Black Skull Dragon?

"What if I win?" I asked.

"Ha ha ha..." he silently laughed, "IF you win, you get $100 for every 100 life points I lose, so you would win $8000. But not only that, you get one of MY cards and **then** you get to ask for anything possible that you could possibly want!"

Linda interrupted, "And I still have those $2500 that you're entitled to in this envelope, here," she reminded me.

Nathan continued, "...Hundreds of rare cards, thousands of dollars, even millions of screaming fans, if you like, are up for grabs here. What do you have to lose aside from ONE card?" He presented a decent argument. But even though my Black Skull Dragon wasn't in my deck, I could lose it now. I always felt it was safe away from my other cards. But now, EVERYTHING was fair game. And I didn't want to lose my favorite card, either, which **was**, obviously, in my deck. And my favorite card is pretty rare and powerful which makes for an easy choice... I had to decide.

_There sure is a lot of money involved. I've never been near any amount remotely close to such numbers! They must think I'm pretty shallow or something... but it's just a duel. And my Black Skull Dragon isn't even that rare anymore, anyway. There are plenty of cards that can defeat it nowadays, and it's actually kinda rippled across the center... yeah, I'll do it!_

"Nathan- let's duel!" We shook hands on it.

He commented, "Excellent choice. I'm glad you decided to duel me!" Then he pressed one button on his cell phone and said, "Harrison, ready the arena! He's accepted! And Linda, you are to referee this duel."

"Yes sir," she complied as she caught up with Nathan and me.

It was just a short walk up the stairs and through the door to the right.

The tile floor I described earlier continued up those stairs and into this room as Linda closed the door behind her. Before I even entered the room, lights automatically flickered on and removed any traces of shadow. In the center of this room was the most high-tech dueling arena I had ever seen! It was sharper in design than the ones we held the final five sets on and looked like it had better holographic capabilities too. I so badly wanted to just then slap a monster card in attack mode onto the field just to see how it would look. But Nathan spoke to me right after Linda shut that door, "Here we are, champ! This is where you will prove just how great a duelist you are! "

Personally, I didn't much like it when he called me 'champ.' Something just didn't seem right about the way he said it. But that wasn't really important right now.

"You can choose whichever side you want to be on, too," he friendly let me take first pick of the side.  
So I selected the metallic blue half, Nathan went to the metallic red half. Linda was already in her tall tower and told us to put our decks on the glowing rectangles. A prism capsule surrounded them and the platform whizzed downward and right toward the other player. When I saw a capsuled deck again, it was Nathan's. So I generously shuffled his deck and put it back on the glowing rectangle when I was finished. Then we received our decks back the same way… I love technology.  
"I think we're ready to begin!" Linda said as she pressed a big red button. To all of ours left, a miniature scoreboard popped up with the life point counter, and number indicating what such as hands, graveyards and so forth… very cool.  
"Would you mind if I went first?" Nathan asked.  
"Not at all," I replied as I hastily drew my first five cards.

He started off the duel with a magic card, "I activate the highly annoying and yet highly effective magic card Ground Collapse! From now on, two of your monster zones are unusable!" As soon as he slapped the card down, my two monster zones to the left turned red and I was left with only three available spaces. "Then I'm setting one card face down and setting a monster card. You're up, champ!"

I drew my sixth card and examined my hand: Sangan, Ominous Fortunetelling, Rush Recklessly, Bait Doll, Dark Necrofear and Nobleman of Crossout. That wasn't a bad hand, but I didn't like the idea that I had no monsters able to attack, really… but I had my Bait Doll and could ease my fears of that one face down card, "I play Bait Doll to force the activation of one of your face down trap cards. If it's a trap but activated at the wrong time, it's negated and destroyed. So what's that card?"  
"Oh dear, it's a trap alright: my Enchanted Javelin… oh well," he sounded depressed- what an actor.

I also noticed that I could destroy his face down monster with my Nobleman of Crossout. But what was I going to do to his blank field, attack him directly with my Sangan? He could pull out a Gemini Elf next turn or something, who knows? But, then again, some damage is better than no damage. And, if I end up losing, that's $500… but am I being driven by money? Victory? Glory? I hope I'm dueling for the right reasons…  
"I play the magic card Nobleman of Crossout! It destroys and removes from play a face down defense monster. If it has a flip effect, both players search their decks and remove the same cards in their decks from play. And then the decks are shuffled. So what ya got, there?" I asked him informally.  
"Hmm, well done. You've destroyed my Man-Eater Bug (450/600)," We both searched through our decks and I removed from play my own Man-Eater Bug. And then I summoned my Sangan (1000/600) and took that chinsey 1000 shot on his life points. The scores were 7000, Nathan to 8000, me. And then I set my Ominous Fortunetelling for the heck of it. Then I ended my turn.

"Nicely played for your first turn, champ," Nathan drew a card as he spoke, "But leaving such a weak monster in attack mode with almost no protection just isn't smart. I summon Pixie Knight (1300/200) and equip her with Gravity Axe- Grarl which brings her attack up to 1800." I've seen this equip card before and noticed that green glow from the last time it was played against me. The same green glow outlined my usable monster zones and I wondered why. Nathan then explained it to me, "As long as this card is face up, battle positions of your monsters cannot be changed. So now, Pixie Knight, attack his fiend monster!" She wielded her newly equipped Gravity Axe and took a mighty swing at my Sangan. During this attack, I took the opportunity to activate my face down card, "I'm activating my Ominous Fortunetelling trap card! I'll let you know what it does later!" I announced as the attack continued. Sangan was sliced in two and I lost 800 life points.

But at least I got to use its effect, which is why I played it to begin with. I took a monster with 1500 or fewer attack points from my deck and added it to my hand: Sonic Bird in case it means anything.

I drew Spear Cretin, which brought my hand total to four. And then it was my Standby Phase, and I explained the effect of my trap card to Nathan, "Now I get to select one card from your hand and guess which type of card it is. If I guess correctly, then you lose 700 life points, ready? I choose the card to your left…. Is it a trap card?"  
"Sorry, champ- but that would be my Stop Defense, which isn't a trap. Better luck next time!" Nathan gloated.  
Ignoring his voice, which was beginning to annoy me, I noticed that nothing alone could stand up to his wimpy Pixie Knight, and I felt kind of distressed. But I looked at this situation optimistically, THIS meant that I'd later draw _stronger_ cards more often, right? So I summoned my Sonic Bird (1400/1000). Then, as its effect instructed me, I took a ritual magic card from my deck and added it to my hand. Just for suspense, I'm not going to tell you what it was until I use it. Then I set my Rush Recklessly and ended my turn.

"You had better come up with better battle tactics than this, champ!" He sounded as if he was getting annoyed with my cautious playing. He drew a card, set two of them and set his last in defense mode. That meant no Ominous Fortunetelling next turn for me. And then he attacked my Sonic Bird with his Pixie Knight. Eager to damage his life points further, I activated my set Rush Recklessly which boosted my bird's attack power to 2100 and easily destroyed his spellcaster and made for 300 points of damage… but I wasted a powerful quick play magic card that could have been used on a more powerful monster.

"And now my Pixie Knight's effect comes into play. Because she was destroyed in battle, you now have to select a magic card from my graveyard, which will go on top of my deck. And, since there is only one in there, I'll take of that for you," he gleefully took a card from his graveyard and put it on top of his deck. "It's your turn!"

I drew Bottomless Trap Hole, which brought my hand total to four. That seemed to make Nathan's day because he activated a trap, "I activate Penalty Game! I can activate it when you have four cards in your hand. Now, I can either force you to skip your next draw phase, or make you unable to set or play magic and trap cards this turn. I'm going to make you skip your next draw phase," he declared.

"Fine by me," I said. I set my Bottomless Trap Hole and did not attack his face down monster because it probably had better defense than my bird's 1400 attack.

Nathan drew his Gravity Axe again and smiled, "You aren't the only one with under-handed tricks up your sleeve. I flip summon my face down Medusa Worm (500/600). When it's successfully flip summoned, I get to destroy one monster on your side of the field. So it's bye bye, birdy!"  
A bit of panic…. Now my field was bare and he was able to deal some damage to me. The only other card I could play from my hand was my Spear Cretin because Dark Necrofear needed to be specially summoned and I didn't have the proper monster in my hand for the ritual magic card- and I COULDN'T draw next turn…

"And now I equip my worm with Gravity Axe, which raises his attack to 1000. Attack HIS life points directly!" he commanded.

The worm, without hands to use the axe just ate the glowing green weapon and rushed straight for me with its mouth wide open. It chewed at my platform and brought my life points down to 6200- 500 fewer than Nathan's. "Your move," he said.  
I turned to my deck and thought about drawing, but instantly remembered that I couldn't because a clear and solid plastic bubble was surrounding it. Hah- okay. I set my Spear Cretin (fully aware that his only face down card was his Stop Defense) and ended my turn.

Nathan drew a card, reached down to his hidden card and activated it, "Stop Defense flips over your face down monster and switches it to attack. But I'm not so sure that'll happen because Gravity Axe is out." As soon as he flipped it over, a huge white X appeared and crashed into my defending Spear Cretin (500/500). It was flipped and switched into attack mode, to everyone's surprise. Nathan looked closer at his Gravity Axe card, "Oh I see now- it says that monsters on your side of the field can't change THEIR battle position, signifying that you can't change them, okay. That's certainly interesting…" he continued, "I set one monster face down and attack your Spear Cretin with my worm. The worm's huge jaws pulverized my fiend card, and I lost another 500 life points. But at least I got to revive a monster from my graveyard. So did Nathan, unfortunately. So I brought back my Sangan in defense mode. He brought back his Pixie Knight (1300/200) in attack mode. I was feeling kind of outnumbered and overpowered… until I drew my next card.

On my next card, after that clear plastic bubble vanished, I drew my Archfiend Soldier! I love that card so much because it's so powerful for just a level four monster, so I wasted no time, "I now summon Archfiend Solider (1900/1500). And I'll have him attack your Medusa Worm!" A perfect combination of blinding speed and deadly accuracy effortlessly brought this ugly worm down. All that could be seen through this skillful display of an attack was my fiend's sword glistening as he held it still above his head as the rest of him dashed forward and carved the worm a new eye socket. It was destroyed, along with the Gravity Axe, and Nathan's life points went down to 5800. This duel seemed to progressing along quickly, but it seemed kind of slow action-wise… I was beginning to think that this guy wasn't much better than I was, if at all, regardless if he was the host or not. I ended my turn because I had nothing else to do.

He looked at the field. And since he was pausing, so did I. We both had two monsters on the field. He had a Ground Collapse activated, and I had an Ominous Fortunetelling activated along with one other trap face down. I had two cards in my hand and he had none. Nathan drew a card and looked reasonably happy, "And now I tribute my Pixie Knight to summon," I hovered my hand over my face down Bottomless Trap Hole, "Jinzo (2400/1500)!" My hand angrily withdrew from over the trap card, which Jinzo prevents from activating. The spellcaster card dissolved into a sphere of yellow light. The sphere darkened into a purple shadow. Jinzo slowly emerged from this form and glared at my trap cards, daring them to activate. His glowing red eyes disabled my Ominous Fortunetelling, too- not that it would be much use since his hand is always empty. "Now attack his Archfiend!" Jinzo clasped his hands together for a second but them spread them apart slowly to reveal a glowing black ball of energy. Without doing anything else, he launched the attack right toward my fiend and destroyed it, bringing my life points down to 5200. I figured that it was just luck… but the hard times were just beginning…

My turn again and I drew Giant Germ. I got excited because it was a fiend and had a decent effect, so I set it and ended my turn.

Nathan took his deck's top card and played it, "And now I'm going to tribute my face down Giant Germ (1000/100) to summon Ancient Gear Beast (2000/2000)!" I had never heard of this monster before, so it made me kind of nervous because it looked REALLY powerful. "Attack the monster to the right, Ancient Gear Beast!" With a rusty start, this colossus ran toward the monster on my left and took a massive slash at it with its huge metal claws.

"You just destroyed the Sangan (1000/600) that I brought back with Spear Cretin's effect. So now I-" Nathan stuck up his right index finger and interrupted me, "HOLD on, there! Ancient Gear Beast has a rather good effect. Once he sends a monster to the graveyard because of a battle, any effect that the destroyed monster had is negated, so that means that you DON'T get to search your deck for a monster that blah blah blah…" It turns out that he DID, in fact, have some formidable cards in his deck! "And now, Jinzo, attack his final monster!" Jinzo destroyed my face down Giant Germ (1000/100), and he lost 500 life points, like its effect said.

And so it was my turn again in a pretty grim spot. Even though I now had more than enough fiends in my graveyard to special summon my Dark Necrofear, I wasn't sure if summoning it would be a good idea. What other kinds of monster cards does he have with odd effects? I drew Mask of Darkness and set it… and I reluctantly decided to special summon my Dark Necrofear, but I had to make it sound like I knew exactly what I was doing… "And now for me to take control over this duel! I am removing from play three fiends from my graveyard," at that moment, Nathan grinned evilly and I could have sworn he said, "Aha, the Necrofear!" I continued, "to let me special summon the Dark Necrofear (2200/2800)!" Three dark purple spheres rose up from my graveyard and huddled together in the air right above my center monster zone. They hovered and pulsated while slowly meshing together and changing form to match the silhouette of the monster. From out of the sky, a thin beam of white light pierced the top of the shadow. The shadow began to bulge and crack revealing bright patches of light underneath. Suddenly, the shell burst shooting pieces of black everywhere leaving behind only the Dark Necrofear surrounded in an eerie white aura. "Attack his Ancient Gear Beast!"

The fiend stood there motionless, only staring at this target. His white eyes were fixated on the mechanical wolf. Then, a single blink; black eyelids concealed his piercing white eyes for a fraction of a second and then his attack began. A constant barrage of white streams of power shot out of his surrounding aura and homed in toward the machine monster who took each shot of that attack painfully. Faster and more accurately the white beams of energy pursued the monster until one final larger beam shot straight up out of the aura and came crashing directly down on the Ancient Gear Beast and evaporated it… pretty cool.

"I always enjoyed watching that card work," Nathan commented with a detectable tone of evil in his voice. His life points decreased to 5100 and it was then his turn.

"Y'know, I kind of knew from the very start that you'd be the victor of this tournament, despite all of your difficulties." Something didn't feel right. In fact, it felt remarkably similar to one of those RPGs' moments when someone who was thought to be on your side for a very long time reveals himself to have been actually working for the enemy the whole time and is about to attack you. He drew a card and continued, "I'll admit that Jenny wasn't much of a challenge for you. Craig may have been a bit easy. Justin was a bit of a challenge, but lost it in the end. Z. K., you remember him? Probably came the closest. S was merely a pushover, as I saw it. That boy, Travis, who defeated your friend showed you mercy! Otherwise, you would have lost! The water duelist Christina often kept to herself but proved to be a challenge, right?" I nodded as he kept reading from a piece of paper he pulled out of nowhere… "Larry, the fire duelist gave you a run for your money… Jon, your old rival, was put in his place. And, finally, Josh…" I paid extra attention to what Nathan had to say about this guy, "Josh was also doing very well in this whole tournament. But I was surprised that he hadn't drawn nearly as many of his rare cards in his duel against you as he had in some of his other duels…"  
"Did you know him, Nathan?" I asked trying to figure out this mystery once and for all.  
"No, not in the slightest… why?" he asked a bit puzzled by my ridiculous question.  
"Well, after our duel, he talked about you as if he knew you personally," I mentioned as Nathan looked quizzically at me.

"I don't know what to tell ya…" He looked back at the paper which I assumed had my statistics and what not printed out on it, "Rare or powerful cards played: Judgment of Anubis, Last Turn, Dark Ruler Ha Des, Dark Necrofear, Nobelman of Crossout, Invader of Darkness, and …Black Skull Dragon…. just to name a few." He paused before and after saying 'Black Skull Dragon,' which caught my attention and made me highly suspicious…

He continued, "So other than that, you've been through a lot in this tournament and you've earned this duel we're in. And, speaking of which, let's return to it, eh? The score is 5100, me to 5200, you and it's my turn…"

He drew a card, set it in defense and thought about what to do. He could destroy my Necrofear with his Jinzo, but I'm sure that he's familiar with Necrofear's effects. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that the HOST knows more about more cards than the average duelist… He still had his Ground Collapse out. And my Bottomless Trap Hole was still face down, useless as long as Jinzo is present. It looked like he had most of the control over which way this duel went. He decided to attack my face down Mask of Darkness (900/400) whose effect didn't much help me since I had no traps in my graveyard. Nathan was happy with this move and ended his turn.

I drew Mask of the Accursed and put it in my hand with the unknown ritual magic card. I needed to prevent my Dark Necrofear from getting destroyed. But that Jinzo on the field wasn't my situation either. Why is always the common cards giving me grief? Powerful cards I've never heard of before like his Ancient Gear Beast came and went. But it's always the typical cards that make life so rough for a duelist! So I made up my mind, "I equip YOUR Jinzo with Mask of the Accursed, which prevents him from attacking and causes you to lose 500 life points for each of my Standby Phases! And next I'm attacking your face down monster with my Necrofear!"

Just as before, my powerful fiend monster blinked and electrified his hidden monster with white energy. But, as luck would have it, his hidden monster was Wall of Illusion (1000/1850). So his monster was destroyed, but my monster was returned to my hand. And I only had two fiend monsters in my graveyard to use at this point… tough luck at its best…  
Nathan drew a card and set it in defense mode, "Heh heh heh, your move again!"

I drew my Poison of the Old Man, Nathan lost 500 life points because of my equip card, and I set my spell card. It would get my out of trouble, but only once. I wondered for how much longer my luck would hold out…

Nathan noticed my predicament and smiled. He drew a card and summoned it happily, "And now I'm summoning a little creature called Nightmare Horse (500/400). This zombie guy can attack your life points directly, even when there are monsters on your side of the field. So that's exactly what's going to happen. Attack him now!" The flaming blue horse spit blue flames directly at me and made full contact. But I lost no life points because of the quick-play card I activated. I chose the positive effect of my Poison of the Old Man card and replenished my life points to 5900.

"Hmm, somebody's a soldier of fortune, yes?" Nathan said… and asked me at the same time… "Anyway, I end my turn."

I began my next turn and couldn't wait to damage his life points again at my Standby Phase. I wondered for how much longer he would allow this to continue. I drew my Magician of Faith and his life points went down to 4100. I was nearly 2000 life points in the lead! I set my magician and ended my turn. There still wasn't much that I could do.

Nathan drew a card and happily summoned it, "I summon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0) in attack mode! They attack your face down monster!" The crazed army ran forward with their maces and axes and bashed my hidden Magician of Faith (300/400). I happily used her effect but was unhappy with my limited selection. I could have sworn that I used more than just three magic cards during this duel. But no, just Nobleman of Crossout which I could use on his face down monster, Rush Recklessly which could be set and used later, or Poison of the Old Man which can damage him or heal me… I chose the latter option and took another 500 point hit from his horse. My life points stood at 5400, and his Goblin Attack Force was automatically resting in defense mode.

My turn again. I grew suspicious of how long Nathan was keeping his masked Jinzo alive. It seemed like he could have at any moment removed the mask and wreaked havoc on my side of the field. Was he waiting for some kind of perfect moment? Anyway, I drew Bait Doll which was useful in the beginning of this duel but was horribly unusable right now because he had nothing face down except a monster card. On the upside, Nathan took 500 more points of damage, taking his life points down to 3600 So my Bait Doll joined the Necrofear, ritual magic card and Poison of the Old Man, which I then set in preparation for a direct attack.

It was a very bad situation. I had no monsters on the field (and couldn't have more than three, ANYWAY), my traps were still useless, and he had four monsters. And it wouldn't have surprised me if he were to summon another monster on his next turn…

Nathan drew another card and smirked at it, and then at me. "I equip my Nightmare Horse with Axe of Despair! It increases his attack power by 1000!" He laughed at me and my vulnerability, "Aha haha ha ha! Look at you and your vulnerability! I've neutralized your traps, I have a monster that can directly attack you even if you have a monster on the field, and your hand seems to be completely useless to you!"

He was right. Bait Doll was useless right now. My Necrofear was still one fiend monster away from being summoned. And I still had that ritual magic card- useless. The only thing on the field that was helping me was the Mask of the Accursed and my hidden Poison of the Old Man. But he could easily overpower it with his horse's attack at 1500 now. What could I do? Was this guy going to beat me?  
"But you're lucky. Goblin Attack Force can't go back to attack mode until my next turn. But I still have my horse, here. Attack him directly again!" The axe that was equipped to it was loosely embedded in its blue flame body now surging with strength. His fire breath was significantly stronger than last time. Instead of sputters, this was a huge flowing river of fire and embers! The air around me rippled as the incendiary attack shook my platform relentlessly. My life points decreased to 3900. That's when I activated my Poison of the Old Man for the last time. But this time I chose to inflict 800 points of damage to Nathan. The elderly man that appeared when I activated it hurled the purple vial at him. It exploded upon his platform and eroded a small amount of it away, only virtually. So his life points went down to 2800. Even though I was still in the lead, that could very likely change soon despite it being my turn…

I weighed the situation one final time. Next turn, he would be able to attack with his goblins again. And who knows what that face down monster is? It must have an effect that affects monsters or he would have activated it by now. _If I don't draw a monster this turn, it's over, _I thought as I gripped my deck's top card. I yanked it away from the rest of the deck and Nathan lost another 500 life points. He had 2300.

I looked at the card I drew and was instantly paralyzed… Of all the luck in the world… why?  
…Why NOW?

…Why did I draw **this** card _now_?

I said to Nathan, "And NOW I activate the ritual spell card Contract with the Dark Master!" Nathan took a step back and nearly fell off of his platform. He was completely shocked. I don't doubt that he knew what the card that was about to appear does. But I knew for a fact that he DIDN'T know that I had one because I never once played it during this entire tournament! I was about to reveal my most favorite and truly most powerful monster!  
As soon as I slapped that magic card down, the whole field went black. In the spot I used the card, a crack in the ground with something glowing green below it manifested itself. The ground split apart slowly resembling the most evil spider web imaginable. The jagged curves and broken lines all with green light emitting from them created a genuinely frightening sight indeed. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion. From the depths of the underlying hole, an immense stream of energy burst up and out of the fissure drowning the entire arena with a deafening sound similar to a hurricane's winds and the green glow that was present from the beginning. Then, from the resulting cosmic windtunnel, an abstract preliminary form of a monster slowly rose up from the chasm. The red and evil purple cloths in which it was wrapped violently flailed around in the wind below it. And all that could be seen of it at this point were its glowing green eyes and fiendish claws longing for power.

I had to shout over the earsplitting noise the chasm was making, "I NEED to offer a MONSTER with EIGHT level stars or more from my HAND or my FIELD in order call forth this monster! I tribute the DARK NECROFEAR in my HAND!" I lay my fiend monster into the graveyard.

Just then, amidst the wind, noise and green light, the Dark Necrofear appeared in front of all of us. His surrounding white aura grew noticeably brighter and stretched itself out into a path leading to the covered monster. It seemed to be hurting the Necrofear? And then I noticed why, slowly the white aura was closing in on him, literally evaporating him away. A high pitched scream resonated all throughout the room as the white energy got thinner until it was as thin as the rest of them beam leading toward the ritual monster.

Then, the curved white line sank into him. It was back to me to complete the summoning. "And NOW! It's TIME for DARK MASTER – ZORC (2700/1500)!" I said as loudly as I could while I carefully slammed him into attack mode.

All the green light around us turned into mist and got heavier. It sank to the ground and slowly tumbled like smoke toward my all powerful fiend card. While this was happening, the open chasm closed up and his red and purple rags meshed together to form an evil-looking cape colored a shadowy red- suitable for a fiend. Once the last bit of green fog collected inside the concealing cape, the arena got darker and his eyes got much brighter. He exploded out of his cape with a wicked, tremulous roar as a mighty, unexplained wind pushed around his spiked green and black hair and whipped around his red cape. The green fog remained perfectly still, though, passively floating about from Zorc's waist and down. When the wind calmed, the lighting returned to normal and gameplay could resume. Every few seconds, I heard my fiend monster make a low growl at the numerous monsters he saw across the field.

"Well! This is certainly an exciting turn of events. But just tell me champ... Remind me what this fellow does…" Nathan said trying to sound as smart as he could. Maybe he didn't know what this guy does?

"Hah. Better yet, I'll SHOW you! But I'll need a die…" I said aloud. Instantly, a nice-sized white die and a video camera mounted to my platform appeared. I never would have noticed that it was there otherwise. I took the die and the camera rotated and followed the die's movement. I tried to fool it by rapidly waving it back and forth, but the camera kept up. And then I noticed the scoreboard to the left with the image the camera was captured. Then I held the die in my hand and explained to Nathan, "I'm going to roll this die once… If I roll a 6, all of my monsters are destroyed. If I roll a 3, 4, or 5 one of your monsters is destroyed, and I get to pick which one. But if I roll a 1 or 2, ALL of YOUR monsters are destroyed! And that's just his effect! I can still attack afterwards if I want!" After I finished speaking, Nathan just stood there wide-eyed. Let me tell you, it wasn't a very dignified look for somebody like him. It was as if he knew EXACTLY what was going to happen next. But this was all relying on a die-roll: purely chance. In fact, the _most_ likely outcome would be that he would lose only one monster, which was only 50. He finally said something, "O-oh. Okay then," he recovered himself. "Carry on then, champ."

"Here we go!" I announced. I tossed the cube high into the air. Well, I only tossed as high as I could while still being sure that it would land on my platform. The higher it went, the slower time seemed to pass. I prayed for a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. Nathan watched as bravely as he could. And then time seemed to speed up the closer it got to my platform again. It landed right near my deck and bounced and ricocheted all around my little area until it clicked and tumbled to a stop revealing the number 2, yes!  
"Sorry, Nathan. But that means that all of your monsters are history!" I said as Zorc perked his head up. He glared at all of Nathan's monsters. Nathan was gripping his platform in a calm panic. And I was anxious to see what this effect would look like!  
Zorc raised his right hand with angled knuckles up to chest level. From the murky green mist, four dark blue orbs. This surprised me. But I wasn't complaining. The four orbs gathered into his hand. He faced his palm toward the other four monsters and extended his fingers. Then, like homing missiles these orbs sought out and attached themselves to a monster, even the face down one. Then, each of them flickered at their own pace- alternating between white, yellow and their original dark blue. Faster and faster they flickered until they turned as green as Zorc's eyes. When that happened, the orb sent out a huge surge of green electricity out in all directions. But the bolts were magnetized right back to the monster from where they came and that monster was destroyed in an explosion of green and grey smoke! One by one, each monster met their demise by this boomeranging lightning. It was so cool!

After the smoke settled, I saw only Nathan standing there with a resentful look on his face. He wasn't angry or negative in any way. He just looked bummed that he was about to lose.

_Whoa, this is it! After I attack, I'll have won this duel! The ONLY card he has out is his Ground Collapse, but that didn't help him much at all. It just intimidated me, kinda. And now, with his field empty and life points that can't withstand Zorc's direct attack, I will win this duel!_, I thought as I looked unbelieving at Nathan and my monster who had just reduced all of his monsters to atoms with one motion.

"Hurry it up now, champ. I do pay money to run this place!" A bit of hostility could be detected in his voice at this point. ..Perhaps I was taking too long in my thoughts.

"Okay then! Zorc, attack him directly!" Hearing this ultimate command, the arena went dark again and Dark Master – Zorc angled both of his arms at the ground where the green mist was. Arcs of electricity jolted and jumped up his arms and body and collected everywhere inside of him. He stopped when his eyes could barely contain the power occasionally bolting out back toward the ground. Then with a yell to the sky and shooting his arms into a Y, the green lightning exploded everywhere into the most chaotic display of green and black I had ever seen. The lightning fizzled and cracked going anywhere it wanted. It all rapidly spread out like cracks on a pane of glass until Zorc stopped his thunderous yell. The lightning paused wherever it was while Zorc faced and frowned at Nathan. He lowered his left arm to his side again but kept his right arm fully stretched at neck level with his fingers barely extended. Then with one more opening of his palm, even more green electricity shot out of his hand, and the other energy that had spread out until he stopped yelling followed. The lightning rapidly closed in on Nathan and electrified his platform for a good ten seconds until the final spark vanished.

Nathan's life point counter beeped down to zero. We both silently gathered up our cards. Linda lowered herself down on that platform. And the three of us gathered together right near Linda.  
Nathan spoke, "Well, I've been defeated... But that was a very lucky draw, I must say," he implied how easily he could have won on his next turn. "But anyway," he began again while he reached into his jacket pocket, "here are $8000." Linda handed me the envelope marked 'G I/P T' and said, "And here's that envelope with your $2500, kiddo." We all were silent for a second while Nathan thought of something to say. "Not bad, eh? $10500! I'd say that's adequate compensation for a few days' worth of duels, wouldn't you?" I agreed as I quickly flashed back to my many opponents and experiences. This whole thing didn't seem to take long at all. I felt like I had cheated my whole way through. But no, how could I have? It felt so weird and somewhat wrong to be standing there with so much money after doing precious little…

"Oh! But this isn't the end! You get to pick one of my cards to keep as your own," he reminded me as I faced him expecting him to reveal to me his deck's other cards. But he kept talking, "Although, you may want to choose from a slightly wider selection of my whole card library…" he walked off in front of me and Linda and I followed.

About a minute later, he led us to a room that looked like somebody's study. There were books on shelves. Some you needed a ladder to reach. But I saw no ladder when I gave the whole room a good, long stare. Nathan walked over to his desk, which faced the door we just walked through and pushed some loose papers aside. He reached under his blotter and typed on what sounded like an electronic keypad. I heard about 6 high-pitched beeps and then a click sound signifying that something had been unlocked.

"Walk up the stairs," he said to me. But I didn't remember seeing any stairs in this room…? I looked to the left and noticed his highest bookshelf extending its shelves. The lowest came out the furthest. The highest one emerged only slightly. It was a full-fledged staircase from top to bottom! But what the hell was going on? I didn't see anything at the top of this staircase. Nevertheless, I did as I was told and nervously reached the top, taking a seat on the shelf at the summit and looking down at Nathan and Linda.  
Nathan said, "Now reach for the underside of that shelf and press the button." I felt like a fool. But I still obeyed. I felt underneath the shelf I was sitting on for a button of some kind but found nothing. So I walked down a few steps and looked upwards at the underside of the top step to see where it was. I found it, pressed it, and watched the stone wall at the top of the stairs push itself in a slide away. "Now just take the book in there and bring it back down here!" Nathan informed me.  
I ascended the stairs again and walked inside the revealed doorway. It was like an Indiana Jones movie. And the book he described couldn't have looked more valuable. It was locked, in a small, dark room, on a white pedestal, bathed in a bluish-white light, and covered in a thin layer of dust… jeez, how dramatic…  
I brought Nathan the book and he pressed one button which closed the door and sunk the staircase back. He unlocked the book with a key and gave me permission to flip inside for whichever one card I wanted. I couldn't believe some of the cards he had in here: Beast of Talwar… Dark Magician of Chaos… Gatling Dragon…Judgment of Anubis… Skilled Dark Magician… and Yamata Dragon to name a few. Most of them were very rare cards. Those that weren't rare were extremely powerful cards. I flipped back and forth between all the pages… What was I going to choose? And then I saw it. It was a fiend monster just calling out to me. And I'd always wanted a Great Maju Garzett ever since I saw that Andre had one and I didn't… So I told Nathan the one I wanted. He gave me permission to reach behind the plastic and pull out the card, further protected by a sleeve. I felt like I had won something truly remarkable… My fiend deck felt complete! Dark Necrofear, Dark Ruler Ha Des, Invader of Darkness, Dark Master- Zorc, Summoned Skull (of course), Spear Cretin, Kiseitai, and all the rest. I was so happy.  
As soon as I removed the card, he closed the book and locked it. Then he said, "And now for your ultimate prize… Since you have defeated ME, you get to ask for anything possible that you could possibly want, like I said earlier… Have you decided on anything?" He asked as if it was something to easily and instantly have an answer to.  
"I gotta be honest, no I haven't. I thought I was going to lose that duel. And I WOULD have, had it not been for my lucky draw… like you said earlier. And I also gotta tell ya, I'm already swamped with prizes and glory, here. So I don't feel that I should take anything el-" I was interrupted by Nathan.  
"NO! Nonsense. You earned this. And lucky draws are part of the game, are they not? I mean, there have been plenty of instances in which you had lots of UNlucky draws, am I right? So enough with this humble stuff and dream up your ultimate prize!" Nathan certainly was a hospitable host. What if I wanted to take his entire deck? According to him, it had to be done since it was POSSIBLE (the word he kept using), so he'd have to hand it over by his own words…  
But did he WANT me to be greedy? I mean, it almost seemed as if he was trying to distract me with money, cards and whatever else was possible… And then I got an idea. Maybe he WAS trying to distract me! I told him what I wanted, "I want to know why half of my opponents wanted my Black Skull Dragon so badly!"  
Nathan's smile shrank into an expressionless stare. Linda even took a cautious step back from where she was standing. I kept looking at Nathan for an answer. I had to know why this one card that I had was such a desirable one by just about everyone I met.

Nathan began, "Fine… but I'm counting this as your prize, because I wouldn't have told you the truth under any other circumstance," Nathan tried to threaten me to withdraw my bold move.  
"I don't care. You're tournament has already awarded me with more stuff than I'd know what to do with: this money, all those cards from other duelists, the free duel disc system (that I forgot I had on my arm this whole time… it was just so lightweight!) and the title 'Best at His Game.' No, now it's time for some truth. So tell me, what's the deal with my Black Skull Dragon?" I asked again. Nathan realized that I couldn't be won over my material things, so he explained the whole story.

"Obviously, it was the rare hunters who wanted your card," he began.  
"But you can't be their leader; otherwise, you would have played much rarer and stronger cards during our duel," I interjected.  
"Well yeah, of course I'm not their leader. Nor am I myself a rare hunter. But the real leader told me to start this tournament to gather up plenty of people…" I interrupted him again trying to understand every aspect of this.  
"How do YOU know the rare hunters' leader?" I asked.

"Well maybe I should have said that I know _of _ him. He just sent me a letter one day telling me to host a tournament with half randomly selected people and half his rare hunters. In all honesty, this whole tournament was set up as a practice range for his new rare hunters. And when it came down to the best rare hunter and the best regular person, the regular person, you, won." He took a breath as if he had just read a whole book to me.

"But that doesn't answer my question. What was the significance of my Black Skull Dragon? Why did they want it so badly?" I asked again.

"Do you remember you first opponent Jenny? Well, she told every other rare hunter in the tournament that you had a Black Skull Dragon after that duel. In fact, the rare hunters communicated to the other rare hunters if there was a duelist with a particularly rare card around. So the more rare or powerful cards you played, the hotter a target you became to them. So it wasn't JUST your dragon. I intercepted their communications and learned of most of the cards in your deck- which is why your ritual fiend monster took me by surprise," he stopped talking again.

"Oh, whoa-" I began. Should I have felt betrayed? Scared? Relieved? I continued, "So that's it? They weren't after just my dragon, but any of the rare cards they heard I had in my deck? And this whole tournament was just target practice for the rare hunters?" I tried to get the facts straight.

"…Uh, yes…" Nathan affirmed.

Just then, I felt really great. So I was like that one moving yellow duck that you just couldn't hit with that air rifle at the local amusement park! A generous helping of triumph through the truth was award enough for me. Besides, I couldn't think of anything else to ask for. Sure, I could have asked for money, more cards, or my own private jet, but that's not how I am. I just wanted to go home…

"…So, now that you know the truth, what are you going to do about it?" Nathan asked in a dejected voice. It almost sounded as if he was expecting a lawsuit or something.

"What-! I won this tournament and won my prizes. I just want to go home. It's not my concern what the rare hunters plan to do…" I boldly stated.

"I dunno- since you beat all of them here, they make consider you a future target, champ," Nathan warned.

"I'm capable of defending myself well enough in a duel. So I'll just deal with things as they come…" I said back.  
"I see… Very well then… Alright, congratulations again on your victories and good luck in the future…" he paused and looked at Linda who had her arms crossed and turned her head back and forth as we both took turns talking. "Linda, take the champion back to the helicopter and take this young man home, please," he gently ordered his employee.

"You got it, sir… Let's go, kid," she turned to face me and walked ahead of me and out of the study.

Nathan turned his back very dramatically as Linda got closer to the door. And I followed her for a few seconds until a burning question resurfaced in my brain, "Oh wait! Nathan! One final question!" He turned back around and looked at me, "I don't mean this negatively, but if you were the host of this tournament, then why DIDN'T you have better cards at your disposal?" I asked as politely as I could.

"Heh- the truth is that I actually expected one of the rare hunters to win. And the deal was that if one of them did win the tournament, the head rare hunter said that I would not duel them. I never did find out why not…. But yeah. I was unprepared for our duel, you could say. Even though I more or less knew your deck's contents, it had been so long since I myself had actually picked up those cards," lamented Nathan. He halfway turned toward the window again and tilted his eyes towards the window, which overlooked the ocean.

"Oh…" I muttered in silent awe. "Goodbye, Nathan," I said as he waved and I left the room.

Linda led me all the way back to the helicopter, there was no robot guy this time, and she told the pilot exactly where to go. I pressed the button to detach the duel disc system from my forearm and lay it on my lap. With the back of my head against the seat, I let the rhythmic vibrations of the flying machine lull me to sleep until I ended up back home.

"Wake up, kid!" I heard Linda say in the distance. Then I suddenly pulled myself out of one of the deepest sleeps I had ever been in. "You're home," she informed me.

I looked out the window and saw that we were on the ground right next to my home. It was kind of weird, but whatever.

"Thanks, Linda!" I expressed my gratitude to her.  
"For what? Telling you who your next opponents were? For going up and down in that annoying elevator thing forever this morning? Relax, you owe me no apology, ha ha ha." We both shared a laugh. But then she said, "And don't worry. You'll never see me again!" And she smiled, closed the door and violently thrust her thumb upwards. I watched the helicopter climb into the air and then walked to my front door.  
"I love goodbyes," I said to myself as I opened the door and noticed that nobody was home… "I'll tell the family how it went when they all get back," I mumbled to myself as I fell asleep on the couch.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And that's it. The whole saga has come to and end. I'm really sorry about how long it took me to complete this story. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I've lost all my readers by now. Anyway, I've decided to provide a small sample of what my next fanfic of ICO would have read like. It will be posted as chapter 27 to this fanfic.

With the completion of this story, my fanfic-ing is over. I have college papers to worry about now. I wish all the rest of you good luck in your stories. If you had any comments, complaints or questions about this story or any of the chapters, now is the time to voice them before I close this chapter of my life, pun intended!


	27. Sample of ICO fanfic

A sample of the story that would have been…

Cave with no Ceiling

For hours the two children walked. However, the mountain range that bordered the beach they had just arrived on was still visible in the distance. "Why is it so flat here?" Ico said to himself. He looked to his left and saw Yorda slightly lagging behind him. Compassionately, Ico slowed down so they could both be walking at the same pace.

Yorda's pale skin healthily reflected the bright sun. But the sun suddenly turned darker. Ico looked up and noticed storm clouds lazily muffling the sun. Like smoke they coasted away. But it was definitely an omen of weather to come.

They continued on their feet. The grass silently crunched beneath their feet. Yorda then said something that Ico could only perceive as gibberish, along with anything else that she said. But it was always nice to hear her voice, "Peyv luuv…"

AUTHOR'S NOTE:I couldn't use symbols to imitate Yorda's speech. So I developed a little system of letters to represent her talking. And even though the code is crackable, it's meant to represent the language barrier between them and how they are always so close and have formed a bond on something that isn't based on words.

_I wish I knew what you were saying,_ Ico thought as he looked back and smiled at Yorda who had her eyes aimed at the sky. Ico remembered the storm cloud he had just seen and said, "We have to go faster!" Ico reached for her hand while she said, "Xeh." Ico was sometimes baffled how she was able to say some of her words. In his head, he tried to mimic the word she just said, but to no avail… They ran as fast as Yorda could move until they encountered a tree. "Hii Kipi!" Yorda said. Ico wondered if she was trying to tell him to slow down or if she was hurt. But she kept up with him and didn't slow down, so he assumed everything was fine and kept going until they got to the tree.

They took a rest under the tree and caught their breath as the rain quietly began. The tall blades of grass gently swayed back and forth as the droplets of water struck them. Yorda was watching the branches of the tree gently move in the wind that the rain cloud was making. Ico watched it with her and wondered where the wind came from. He guessed that she was thinking the same thing…

Eventually, the rain let up and Ico woke up the sleeping Yorda. Her eyes fluttered open. And for several seconds, she didn't move and took the time to heave a relaxed sigh. Without saying anything, they both stood up and looked at each other. Ico was shorter so he had to look up at her while she stretched her arms over her head. Yorda looked all around her silently while the wind softly blew her hair around. Ico observed his surroundings, too, as he searched for a good direction in which to travel.

Off in the distance, he noticed what looked like a cave among many more trees. He figured that there would be other people there to tell him where he was. Ico motioned for Yorda to follow him and she did. The sun was still out and the dew on the grass left little specks of water on Ico's clothing. Yorda was silently giggling as it tickled her feet and this made Ico smile.

After a few minutes, they reached the cave surrounded by trees. But that's all it was. Ico stopped and looked about. He noticed Yorda looking scared of it. It was dark inside further down, and she probably thought that there were more shadow demons inside there that would try to get her. But the Dark Queen was dead. And with her, so died the shadow demons. But then, to his surprise, she just ran in as if she had found something she'd been looking for her whole life. Ico ran in after her and was surprised after a few seconds of running to catch up with her that it wasn't very dark at all. In fact, he looked up and noticed that this cave didn't even have a ceiling. The sun perfectly lit up the walls all around them. Yorda was mesmerized by the fact that she was in a room with walls but no ceiling. She took in her surroundings and seemed to feel at home. A small smile crept onto her face and that made Ico smile. Then he noticed another corridor on the other side of the room that led into another chamber, which also had no ceiling. He walked in that direction and Yorda followed. It felt oddly nice being in such a weird location. What kind of cave had no ceiling?  
Then he saw weird writings on the walls. He saw tall figures fighting other tall figures with spear-like weapons. The next thing he noticed was something that resembled a completely empty hourglass- no sand in the upper or lower halves, which was weird. Then there were many illegible ancient writings followed by a large arrow pointing to yet another tunnel to his left. Yorda was looking on with him who seemed slightly less confused than he was… perhaps she could read this writing? Yorda finished looking at the symbols and looked at Ico for what to do next. Her still eyes stared calmly at him while he thought.  
Ico stuck out his hand. Yorda grasped it and they both entered the tunnel together.

And I'm afraid that's as far as I'll take this story. If anyone wants to take over this story, you can either email me: or IM me: SpiritStoneSword. I'll give you the alphabet Yorda uses. And give you ideas as to where the story can lead.

This whole fanfic thing has been fun. But I've got to worry about my college writings now… So good luck to the rest of you and so forth!


End file.
